Quixote Complex
by ChibiCori
Summary: In this three part story, Mamoru receives a bump to the head and reverts back to his Endymion persona. And guess who he recognizes right off the bat. More sugar and fluff and sweet, sticky gooiness than you can shake a stick at! Hilarity will ensue.
1. Default Chapter

Quixote Complex  
  
Part One of Three  
  
Author: ChibiCori. That's right, ChibiCori. Say it with me now!  
  
e-mail: kamikaze_bunny_eater@yahoo.com, and you'll always get an answer!  
  
site: www.chibicori.virtue.nu  
  
Rating: probably PG  
  
Disclaimer: You people have no idea how hard it is to come up with an entertaining disclaimer for every story we authors' write. Dammit, I'm gonna start writing original stuff so you'll have to write disclaimers that it belongs to me. Ha, take that!  
  
Oh, and Sailormoon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi, or I wouldn't be writing this dumb thing. ::grumbling::  
  
Summary: Hey there, howdy ho there! You're as welcome as can be! ::Reader begins to hum Mickey Mouse theme as Cori elaborates on her insane prattling:: Well, here is another delightful short by me! In this one, Mamoru gets a knock to the head and is taken over by his former life as Prince Endymion. Which means he immediately recognizes Usagi as his princess. And guess which poor sap Prince Endymion catches Usagi flirting with? All Motoki lovers may want to leave, this could get ugly. Hopefully, hilarity ensues.  
  
Quixote Complex  
  
Part One of Three  
  
Something felt different as Mamoru walked into the arcade that fateful afternoon. He hadn't felt quite right all day. And when he hadn't been greeted by Motoki's warm, usual smile, Mamoru knew right away that the day would only get weirder.  
  
Motoki, meanwhile, had noticed nothing but the book in front of him for the past few days. As Mamoru drew closer to the counter where Motoki was reading, he noted the title, "Don Quixote". Mamoru smiled as he sat at his stool and silently waited for Motoki to acknowledge him.  
  
It became apparent rather quickly that he would be sitting there for a while. Motoki was engrossed in the tales of the Spanish nobleman who saw giants in windmills and magical armor from washbasins. An unholy grin split Mamoru's face as an evil little idea tickled his brain. Remembering the one time he had actually seen Motoki's father at the parlor, he took a deep breath and boomed into Motoki's ear, "Motoki! No readin' on my time boy!"  
  
"ACK!" Motoki exclaimed, dropping his book and looking around fearfully. His eyes lit on Mamoru, who was laughing hysterically, and scowled uncharacteristically, "Oh, funny Mamoru. You made me lose my place."  
  
"Well, shucks." Mamoru chuckled, fighting back the laughter that threatened to take over again.  
  
"I only have two days to finish this and no time to do it in, so cut me some slack." Motoki muttered, flipping through the pages, in search for the one he had been reading.  
  
Mamoru smothered a grin and then offered, "I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. I've already read it if you need some help."  
  
"It's okay, it's a pretty easy read." Motoki replied, and then sighed, "Except the whole concept kind of escapes me."  
  
"How does it escape you?" Mamoru asked, incredulously.  
  
"Well, it just seems ridiculous. Why would some rich, old guy leave the comforts of his mansion to ride on an old horse and spend all his time with a little guy named Sancho?" Motoki wondered.  
  
"Quixote wasn't all there, Motoki. He was old and bored, and he spent all his time reading about the great adventures that knights had and one day he snapped." Mamoru pointed out with a snap of his fingers.  
  
"Yeah, I got that, but still, it doesn't make any sense."  
  
"Motoki. It doesn't have to make sense, it's just an old book about a crazy old man." Mamoru sighed in frustration, why was Motoki always reading too much into things?  
  
Motoki only replied with a frustrated sigh all his own, "If that is true, then I'm going to have one boring paper."  
  
"Motoki, no one's papers on books are exciting." Mamoru rolled his eyes.  
  
Motoki chose not to comment and folded over the corner of the page he was at, then with another sigh, put it under the counter. The only thing Mamoru helped him with was to remember what happened the last time he was caught reading on the job, and it hadn't been pretty. Better to live then get caught up in Literature.  
  
"So, what brings you to my counter?" Motoki asked, fishing up a glass to fix Mamoru a drink.  
  
Mamoru waved the glass away and then shrugged, "Nothing really. I just have the weirdest feeling today and I thought that some Motoki-chat could fix it."  
  
Motoki grinned at the 'Motoki-chat' reference and then asked, "Why do you feel weird?"  
  
"Dunno, just do." Mamoru answered, lifting his broad shoulders again.  
  
"Maybe you're having a premonition." Motoki wondered out loud.  
  
"Get real." Mamoru laughed, shaking his head.  
  
"No, really. I've read about stuff like this. People get these feelings that something is going to happen all the time! It's a kind of power." Motoki explained, quite seriously too.  
  
Mamoru fought the impulse to laugh right in his friend's face, but couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from trembling upward, "Somehow, I seriously doubt-"  
  
But Mamoru didn't get the chance to finish the denial. Motoki watched in puzzlement as Mamoru's eyes rolled backward and he slumped forward. Motoki shot himself across the counter to catch Mamoru before his head slammed into the formica top. What had happened? Had he passed out?  
  
Motoki's internal questions were immediately answered when a group of young boys ran up to the clerk and his unconscious comrade.  
  
"Good one, Shingo!" a dark-haired boy called wryly, "Just kill somebody why don't you?"  
  
"Shut up, Ryu!" A boy with hair the same color as Motoki's spat and then looked at Mamoru in worry, "I'm so sorry. We shouldn't have thrown the ball in here."  
  
Motoki blinked because the boy seemed familiar to him somehow, but he couldn't quite put a finger on it, then remembered his friend and nodded, "No, you shouldn't have. What kind of ball were you throwing?"  
  
The dark-haired boy, Ryu, held up a baseball and grinned sheepishly, "Sorry."  
  
"Is he hurt real bad?" Shingo asked, his expression in earnest worry.  
  
Motoki gave Mamoru's head a thorough perusal and decided he'd wake up soon enough, and he'd have one hell of headache when he did, "He'll be fine, but you guys shouldn't have been throwing that ball in here."  
  
Shingo reddened in shame and looked down at his feet, "We know, I really didn't mean to throw it that hard."  
  
Motoki smiled somewhat as he took in the boy and remembered how his friends had always egged him on to do things he shouldn't have when he was Shingo's age. Motoki chuckled softly then said, "Tell you what, help me get Mamoru into the back room and I'll let you go without any harm done."  
  
Shingo's face brightened, "Really?"  
  
"Really, just make sure you throw that thing outside from now on." Motoki advised, jerking his head towards the ball Ryu was still holding.  
  
"No problem." Shingo agreed whole-heartedly, thankful for the reprieve.  
  
"Now that THAT is settled, grab his feet, and try not to damage him more then you already have." Motoki grumbled as he took a firm hold of Mamoru's upper half.  
  
^_~ ^_~ ^_~ ^_~ ^_~  
  
Usagi couldn't help but feel giddy when the sliding doors to the arcade whooshed open in greeting. She had scheduled a full hour of Motoki- flirting; senshi, guardian and Mamoru-baka free.  
  
Speaking of the latter, she hadn't seen him all day. Usagi immediately took it as a sign that today was the day that Motoki would see her in that different light she so desperately wanted him to see her in. She had even gone home to change, put on something a little special. And she couldn't help but feel superior to every single female who crossed her path. Today, she was IT.  
  
Running busy fingers through her hair, Usagi scanned the usual Friday night crowd for her prey – er – Motoki. They immediately found him bending over a table to serve a young woman with reddish hair and hazel eyes. She was blushing for some odd reason, but Usagi was too hyped up to care why.  
  
She practically bounced all the way over to him. Usagi quickly decided she simply did not have the patience to wait for Motoki to finish whatever he was doing with the woman, so she stood on tiptoe and leaned forward so her mouth was right by his ear.  
  
"Hey Motoki-san!" she cried, then immediately received Motoki's shoulder to her jaw. She quickly backed up, slapping a hand up to the offended structure.  
  
Motoki gulped and then smiled uneasily as he went to aid the small blonde, "Sorry, you surprised me."  
  
Usagi grinned, wincing only slightly at the twinge of pain in her jaw, "Oh, it's nothing really. It was my fault."  
  
"Still, we should get some ice on it, or it'll bruise. And we don't want bruises on your cute, little face, do we?" Motoki grinned, then moved Usagi towards a stool, "Sit down and I'll be right with you. Just gotta wrap things up with Reika here."  
  
Usagi hadn't really heard what he had last said, just sat on the stool he had placed her in front of. Motoki had said she was cute! Oh joy of joys! She knew that today was going to be special. Usagi felt her grin stretch ear to ear, then immediately drop at the over-exertion on her swelling jowls.  
  
Motoki joined her at the counter a moment later and began to fill a baggie full of ice, "Geesh, this place is accident prone today."  
  
Usagi gladly took the bag, seriously considering whether or not she should keep it forever as a memento of the day Motoki fell madly in love with her, then asked, "Why is that?"  
  
"Well, Mamoru was here earlier-" Motoki missed the slight, pained scowl on Usagi's face and continued, "And he got bonked on the head with a baseball."  
  
"Good." Usagi muttered, upset that the name of Chiba Mamoru had entered this precious conversation, then asked, "Was he alright?" simply so she wouldn't look bad in front of Motoki.  
  
"Oh, he'll be fine. He's in the back room recovering."  
  
Usagi dropped her bag of ice and planted her hands on the counter to support her as she leaned forward over the counter, her eyes lighting with a furious fire, "You mean he is still here?"  
  
Motoki blinked at the violence in her tone, "Ummm...yes?"  
  
Usagi looked lethal for a moment before releasing a puff of air and sat back, folding her arms in front of her, "Figures."  
  
"Usagi-chan?"  
  
Usagi looked up at Motoki and all her anger immediately melted, she smiled and sat straighter in her seat, "Sorry, but you know how I feel about Mamoru-baka."  
  
Motoki smiled somewhat uneasily then offered, "Well, we won't be seeing him for a while yet, if that helps?"  
  
"What do you mean?" Usagi asked, her head tilting to the side in suspicion.  
  
"He was knocked out cold. We won't be hearing a peep from him." Motoki explained, jutting his thumb towards the back room.  
  
Usagi's eyes lit in mystery and she looked at him coyly, "Do you think he'll be out for at least an hour?"  
  
"Uhhh, maybe." Motoki answered, his brows knitted together in confusion.  
  
"Yay! I can continue with my plans!" Usagi exclaimed, pumping a victorious fist in the air.  
  
"Plans?"  
  
"Uhhh, yeah. I was just going to hang out and talk for a while." 'And then make you my love puppet!'  
  
Motoki didn't notice the mischievous little smile to cross Usagi's lips as she plotted his downfall. Then again, Motoki rarely ever noticed anything, especially deviant blondes plotting his romantic demise.  
  
^_~ ^_~ ^_~ ^_~  
  
It was dark when he finally managed to open his eyes. Raising a lethargic limb to his head, he carefully felt at the lump growing out the back of it. He grumbled an oath as he sat and tried to gather his thoughts.  
  
The last thing he had remembered was the battle on the moon, that witch Beryl attacking the Moon Kingdom.  
  
Serenity! He had gone to defend the Moon, to save her. When he had finally found her amidst the rubble of her palace, she had looked so frightened. He remembered her calling his name, the frantic need ripping from her throat. He had run to her, the desperation in his voice as plain as hers as he shouted for her. He remembered a sudden, white-hot, burning pain.  
  
And then, nothing.  
  
A louder curse followed the initial one and he rubbed the grime from his eyes. Where was he? In a Dark Kingdom prison? Where was Serenity? By the gods, if Beryl had touched one hair upon her head, he would rip out the demon's throat with his own hands!  
  
A light, tinkling noise caught his attention. Her laughter, he would remember it anywhere. Serenity was well! The urge to have her in his arms once more took over his senses and he stepped towards the sound he loved so much.  
  
He squinted, than put up a shielding hand as new light invaded his vision. His head began to pound violently, but he willed it to the back of his thoughts as his adjusting eyes eagerly sought out his beloved's form.  
  
Another peel of laughter brought his head around and finally, his gaze rejoiced upon her. The light, once so harsh to his dilated eyes suddenly softened and outlined her lithe silhouette. Her hair - though oddly enough, a different color - was still hung in it's two perfectly shaped buns. Streamers of butter-gold hair fell from them and spilled down her shapely back. Her face, the face that inspired the artists of his world for centuries, was still a generous heart shape, cheeks still painted pink. Eyes that could only be compared to the jewel tone of sapphire shone merrily as her face lit up with laughter.  
  
It was her, Serenity. His eyes searched her length up and down, searching for any sign of harm the enemy may have inflicted, but there was none. The only difference was her hair color. It had somehow darkened from the precious-metal color of silver to the equally rich gold. It fit her though, and made her look more like an angel of the Earth, then one of the sterile Moon. His heart warmed to that, the idea that his moon princess had been bound to the Earth in a way. And was therefore bound to him.  
  
His hands not being able to stand the itch of not holding and touching her reached out, and his feet joined with the outreached limbs. He needed to hold her, to be held by her. He felt as if he hadn't touched her for centuries.  
  
Then she spoke, and her tone startled him. It was Serenity's voice, but it lacked the refinement he was used to hearing in her dialect. Instead of rolling off her tongue in a steady purr, her tone jumped from pitch to pitch, bounded from peaks and valleys. Puzzled, he halted and listened to her words;  
  
"I have to admit it Motoki-san, I'm kinda glad that Mamoru-baka took a hit to the head. We never get to talk between just the two of us anymore." she smiled then, though it seemed to be painful. This worried him further; Serenity's smiles had always been so easy and warm. Not once had he ever seen her grimace. What was going on?  
  
"Hey, how is that jaw coming?" A new voice asked. A new – male – voice, he noted as something flashed in his eyes.  
  
His love brought her hand down from her cheek, bringing down a bag filled with melting ice with it. She then turned her cheek to show the male asking and the on-looker's eyes widened as he took in the slight discoloring of her pale flesh. Someone had hit her! Who was it? One of his so-called friends, those cowardly generals who had turned on him? Was it the witch Beryl herself? Whoever inflicted this injury on his beloved would pay dearly.  
  
But when the other man raised his hand to stroke her swollen cheek, Serenity's eyes widened in surprise and...could it possibly be...want? He felt his heart crack and his soul bleed. True, no one but a trusted few knew of their love affair, but he could not stand to have this other suitor, this pig who did not deserve Serenity's love any more then he, to touch her. The only man who was going to touch Serenity in that way was he, Endymion.  
  
Reaching back into the dark space he had woken in, he grabbed a weapon, a staff by the feel of it. Excellent, he excelled with the staff. The insolent man behaving so freely with his princess would taste his wrath.  
  
^_~ ^_~ ^_~ ^_~ ^_~  
  
"Wow, that looks bad. I'm real sorry Usagi-chan." Motoki winced as Usagi pressed the ice back to her cheek. She giggled and shook her head, blonde ponytails whipping around her small body.  
  
"Nah, don't be." she winked then and added, "They say bruises give you character."  
  
Motoki laughed at this and scooped more ice into a baggie, seeing as how Usagi's was leaking all over her blouse. He was just about to pass it to her when something hard and powerful smacked him in the back of the head. Motoki's eyes bulged and the impact sent him flying over the counter he'd been leaning over. Usagi shrieked and dropped to her knees next to him. He took in wide, blue eyes, before he looked over her shoulder and saw his attacker. Motoki blinked, then whimpered, "You gotta be kidding me."  
  
"This is no jest. Keep your hands off of the princess!" Mamoru ordered from behind the counter, holding a mop expertly in his hands.  
  
"Mamoru-baka!" Usagi squealed as she lifted her poor Motoki's head onto her lap, "You idiot! Why did you do that?"  
  
"Mamoru...baka?" cobalt eyes flashed in confusion, then anger as his angel stroked slim fingers through her other suitors blonde hair. Growling low, he jumped over the counter and stood over them, manacling Usagi's wrist in a sure hand as he hauled her into his embrace. The action left Motoki suddenly without support and his head fell with a loud crack to the linoleum floor. He groaned and lifted a hand to gingerly assess the damage done by both back-stabber and blonde.  
  
But Motoki's pain went unnoticed above. Usagi's eyes widened at the intimate way Mamoru's hands gripped at her back, the flashing passion in his eyes. What the - what was going on? Mamoru had never looked at her that way before, or touched her so. In fact, he'd never touched her before, period. But there was something oddly familiar to the feel of his arms wrapped around her. They made her think of Tuxedo Kamen's. And perhaps...something long ago and forgotten.  
  
"Serenity..." Mamoru's voice beckoned Usagi's full attention, "Serenity, it is me. Endymion. What is wrong with you? You act strangely."  
  
Usagi sputtered as she slowly absorbed his words. Had he called her Serenity? And he was this, Endymion? What was going on? "Oh no, I think we've got it backwards buddy. Your the one acting nutty." She then raised hands that wanted to cling to him and push him away at the same time to his shoulders. The inner victory went to the latter, but Mamoru's grip did not release. Blowing out an annoyed puff of breath, Usagi punched at his arm, "Let me go."  
  
"No." Mamoru answered, and Usagi looked away as his eyes seemed to eat away at her soul. Geesh, what was up with him?  
  
"Why not?"  
  
Mamoru didn't hesitate as he answered, "Because I love you."  
  
Usagi's breath snagged. What? He...no, she wouldn't believe him. It was just Mamoru-baka playing some cruel joke. All he'd done since they met was tease her and make her life a living hell. People who loved you didn't do that. When someone loves you, they're nice, and affectionate. They brought flowers and candies and wrote pretty poems trying to express how they felt, and failing miserably at it too.  
  
At least, that's what she figured. No one had ever told her they loved her before. And the fact that the first had been Chiba Mamoru broke her heart.  
  
'Oh, if only he meant it, then maybe it would hurt less.'  
  
Usagi stared at the ground, her small frame shaking with boiling anger before she finally muttered low, so only Mamoru would hear, "How dare you? How could you be so...mean?"  
  
"Seren-"  
  
"No!" Usagi exclaimed, jerking herself free of Mamoru's arms, "No, don't call me that. You know that isn't my name!" Mamoru clapped his mouth shut, a tick working in his jaw as Usagi slowly continued, trying desperately to keep her fury in check, "This is really an all new low for you Mamoru. Do you play with all young, impressionable girls' hearts like this? Well I'm tellin' you what, buster, I'm not falling for it. This is one young, impressionable girl you are not going to get too."  
  
Usagi spun around, hoping Mamoru would get a mouthful of pigtails from the violent motion. But before she could exit through the automatic doors of the arcade, her emotions got the best of her. They screamed for justice, and what had already been said was not enough to sate them, apparently.  
  
Turning back, Usagi stalked to Mamoru's frozen form and stood on tip toe so she didn't have to tilt her head all the way back to address him, "Just so you know, I think you are the lowest, most horrible man to ever walk this planet. You've tainted the first 'I love you' I ever heard. I hate you for that. I really do. I wanted the first time to be beautiful and real, and you took that from me. How could you be so terrible? What did I ever do to you?"  
  
Usagi was surprised to find herself crying. She wasn't even aware of it until Mamoru lifted his hands and gently cupped her damp cheeks in his palms. Gently swiping the pads of his thumbs over her tear stained face, he watched her reaction. It was like the softest of caresses, full of emotion and caring. She involuntarily shuttered her eyes as she absorbed the touch and marveled as it etched itself in her brain. There would never be a touch like this again.  
  
Mamoru bent his head so that his breath washed warm over her ear, tickling sensitive whorls and nerves Usagi never knew she possessed. Usagi shivered as he finally answered, "You loved me."  
  
Usagi eyes shot open at the remark. She stepped back, away from his intoxicating atmosphere and glared at him with sparking blue eyes. Her hand flashed out, almost of it's own will, and made sharp contact with the side of his face. Mamoru stumbled backward a few steps and finally looked back with haunted eyes. Eyes that did not affect her in the least.  
  
The reason that her heart cried out as her hand had cracked across his cheek, would best be left for discovering later, "There isn't a snowball's chance in hell that I ever loved you, or will. Good bye Mamoru."  
  
Her revenge taken, her heart broken and her head just plain confused, Usagi spun once more on her heels and, this time, exited the fruit parlor doors.  
  
Leaving behind at least two, very confused men and a handful of amused by- standers. Mamoru, or Endymion, lifted a stunned hand to his cheek, felt the heat of her hatred. Serenity had never lifted a finger to anyone in her life. Not even to him, who had deserved a round slapping from her on more than one occasion. What had happened to her? She hated him?  
  
His heart ripped in half as he heard from the ground beneath him, "Mamoru, what were you thinking?"  
  
Endymion looked down, to the suitor. Motoki had sat up, the bag of ice he had made for Usagi becoming his own as he held it to the back of his head, and was looking at his best friend with narrowed eyes.  
  
'Mamoru, there is that name again,' Endymion pondered as he spoke, "Excuse me?"  
  
"I mean, if you like Usagi, that's fine. But there is no need to hit me when I'm talking to her." Motoki grumbled, trying to rise and finding the room still spun too much to attempt that again for a few moments. Swearing softly, he looked up again, "And what was that, laying into her like you were? I didn't know you had it for her so bad, but you went about it in totally the wrong way."  
  
"Had it bad?"  
  
"What kind of friend wouldn't tell his best friend that he was in love? I mean, I am a bit surprised that you actually love Usagi, but-"  
  
Motoki hushed as Endymion suddenly squatted down, the mop that had caused Motoki all his pain still gripped in a white-knuckled fist. Deep blue eyes that were suddenly deep and old glared into his face. His mouth was unsmiling as he spoke with a fierce, yet quiet tone, "I do not love Usagi."  
  
Motoki blinked, "But, you just told her you did."  
  
"That was not Usagi, that was Serenity. And you know that, you black coward." The soft rage grew stronger, and Motoki could barely swallow the lump in his throat down to speak.  
  
"Uh, no. That was Usagi." Motoki was light-headed. A blow to the head would do that to a man. Suddenly reminded that Mamoru himself might be struggling with the effects of the same infliction he was, Motoki's fear and confusion was pushed back to make way for brotherly concern, "Mamoru, maybe you should go back into the closet and rest some more. I don't think you are entirely clear-headed yet."  
  
Endymion stood quickly, his aggravation reaching new peaks, "There is that name again! First Serenity, and now you. Has the world gone mad? I am Endymion, Prince of this green planet and Lover of the Moon. And you," the blunt end of the mop was thrust between Motoki's eyes, forcing the blonde man to go cross-eyed as he looked at it, "are not going to take her from me."  
  
"Take her...you mean Usagi?" Motoki stammered, shoving back on his butt, trying to escape the janitorial weapon that followed him, until he finally ran into a wall. With the back of his head. Now seeing two Mamoru/Endymion's, Motoki continued in his defense, "You know I'm not interested in Usa-Serenity that way. She's like a kid sister to me!"  
  
"You lie." Endymion jabbed the staff/mop into the gland at the top of his throat, felt a devilish glee as he heard the suitor make a soft gagging noise, "I saw her with you. You have filled her head with ideas of romance. A romance with you."  
  
"No, no!" Motoki croaked out, the mop handle making it a little hard to speak, or plead for his life, whichever, "I don't want to have a romance of any kind with her. Man, Mamoru, you know I have it bad for Reika."  
  
"WHAT?"  
  
Both men turned at the excited scream, the origination standing by the counter in head-to-toe Chanel. She was flushed, a hand over a shocked mouth. She was a pretty, young woman with long red hair and green eyes. Motoki only groaned and said under his breath, "Well, crap."  
  
"I take it that this," Endymion withdrew his weapon from its abused resting spot, "is Reika."  
  
Motoki finally took in a deep breath and rubbed at his neck, looking up at Endymion through pained eyes, "Yeah, that's Reika."  
  
"And I assume that 'I have it bad,' would mean you have feelings for this young woman." Endymion continued, his eyes still daring him to deny he didn't love Serenity.  
  
"Yeah, you could assume that." Motoki's eyes unfastened from Endymion's to Reika's. It was the softening of the green depths that convinced Endymion that his words were true. Relaxing the hand on his weapon/mop, he offered his free limb to the man in apology;  
  
"Then you must forgive me. I had no right to attack you as I did."  
  
Motoki looked at the hand suspiciously, then slowly lifted his own to take it. Too slowly for the darker man though, because he lashed out and grabbed his wrist, then easily hauled Motoki to his feet. The hasty motion left Motoki wincing and wary, but all together unharmed.  
  
"Um, no problem, buddy. You've had a rough day, I understand."  
  
Endymion bowed at his acceptance, "Thank you. I'm sure that you do understand. After the attack on the Moon, tensions on Earth have been extreme. I do not know who to trust anymore."  
  
Motoki could only blink in response. The attack on the whosa-whatsa-thingy- mabobber? Mamoru was definitely out of his gourd, "Yeah, I know exactly what you mean." Hey, if you can't beat them, join them. At least until you get them in a locked, padded room, "Listen, errr, Endymion. You might want to think about lying down for a bit. You had a really bad hit earlier, you need rest."  
  
Endymion remembered the intense pain he had felt before he had regained consciousness, the man must have been referring to that. And well he should listen to this new friend, as the pain made him thing he maybe should have died from the blow he had received.  
  
But the idea of Serenity out there, spurred him into action, "I cannot. I must find Serenity."  
  
"I don't think that is a good idea." Motoki warned, for both Usagi's sake and Mamoru's. He remembered the raw pain in Usagi's eyes as she left, another bout with the new Mamoru would probably ruin her for a relationship ever again. And when Mamoru came back to his senses, if he really did have these strong feelings for Usagi, he wasn't going to be happy when he found out that while he was in some sort of Don-Juan-Zombie state, he had totally freaked her out. He would not be a happy man, at all.  
  
Either way, both of his shoulders would be taken by a weeping friend and now that Reika knew how he felt, he kind of wanted them to be open for a little whil  
  
Endymion only shook his head and put a hand on Motoki's shoulder in a show of ancient comradery, "Thank you for your concern, but I worry more for her. This place is dangerous. Without the grace of the Moon to protect her, she is vulnerable. As long as I breath, I shall let no harm come to her."  
  
With a sweeping gesture, as if he should have been wearing a cape, Enydmion made for the exit through which Serenity had earlier exited. He smiled warmly at Reika, who still stood, speechless by the counter, "Take care of your love. I am afraid I did him some harm. He will need your tender hands to heal him."  
  
He bowed again. It came as a mild shock to him when the doors opened of their own accord. He had not known any establishment on Earth, for it was indeed on Earth he was currently domiciled, had possessed this technology. However, many other planets in the alliance had been using it for centuries. He had seen it the one or two times he had snuck to the Moon to meet Serenity, and he had seen the same affect when she had stormed out. He was about to walk through the portal when a voice beckoned him.  
  
"Mamo- I mean, Endymion." Motoki was next to him, limping slightly and his head starting to swell, but mobile at least. Endymion said nothing in return, just looked at him expectantly. So Motoki made it quick, "Do you mind, um, leaving the mop here?"  
  
Endymion looked down at his hand and saw he still held the weapon he had brought with him from his dark chamber. Chuckling softly, he placed it into Motoki's waiting hands and then left. Motoki could only stare after his friend.  
  
What happened to him? Motoki could only be glad that his blow to the head hadn't damaged him as much as Mamoru's seemed to. He was acting like an entirely different person. The way he had swung that mop around, it was as if he had staff training since he was big enough to hold a stick. His demeanor and posture, though always confident, now had a certain nobility to it. And he was talking funny too.  
  
Don Quixote suddenly flashed into his mind. The book that had been daunting him for the past couple of weeks, with its implausible plot and outlandish characters, was stunningly clear now. A regular man who became a knight in a land where knights were out of date. A simple girl who was thrust onto the pedestal of princess in the eyes of a man who loved her. Mops were swords and the Moon once had a silvery kingdom on its surface. And the regular man, who had everything anyone could ever want, had just snapped.  
  
It was a fairy tale, pure and simple. It wasn't supposed to make sense because that was the point. It was an exploration of the innards of the human brain, its imagination. Its potential for great things. No one is content with what they have, everyone dreams of a more exciting and exotic life. It was a story about one man who dared to throw aside convention and embrace his dream. A man who could see giants in windmills and armor in washbasins.  
  
Man, his paper was going to be great!  
  
As Motoki slowly turned back into the parlor, his mind wandered to one last thing. If Usagi and Mamoru were two major characters, what part did he play? Sancho? Little Sancho, on his donkey, who just stood by in bewilderment as his master fell into madness?  
  
"Motoki?"  
  
Motoki lifted his eyes to meet Reika's, who had finally managed to unfreeze and walk over to him. She was beautiful, and smelled great. Her hazel eyes shone with hope and her voice trembled slightly as she continued, "Is it true, what you said? You, care for me?"  
  
Sancho, who was going to be taking the prettiest girl in town out on his donkey, rather than living vicariously through the adventures of the crazy man that was chasing his own dream.  
  
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Part One is finito! Did you enjoy? Let me know:  
  
kamikaze_bunny_eater@yahoo.com  
  
Hasta!  
  
Cori (A WAFF Princess) 


	2. Quixote Complex Part Two of Three

Quixote Complex  
  
Part Two of Three  
  
Author: ChibiCori  
  
e-mail: kamikaze_bunny_eater@yahoo.com  
  
site: www.chibicori.virtue.nu  
  
rating: PG-13 (some sexuality...just a little bit ^_~v)  
  
Disclaimer: I'll keep this basic. Naoko owns Sailormoon. I just jack her characters and make them do naughty, naughty things. :D  
  
Summ: The weird day continues to get weirder and weirder.  
  
Quixote Complex  
  
Part Two of Three  
  
Endymion had been worried that Serenity would find nothing but trouble on her own, but it seemed he was the one who was in trouble. Though finding her wasn't the problem, he simply had to pull on their soul bond. It alarmed him, however, how weak it had become. He couldn't pin point what had worn it down exactly, but he prayed it was not this hatred she claimed to have for him. Or perhaps she did love the suitor, Motoki. For her to love another was a worse fate than for her to hate him.  
  
At the same time, some instinct told him that it wasn't either of those probabilities that had frayed the once sturdy bond between them. The string resonated lightly of age. A great deal of age, an impossible amount of age. After all, he could only have been laid up with his injury at most for a month. Nothing could change that much. And with Serenity alive and well, he could only assume that the Moon Kingdom lived, if not thrived.  
  
Then why was she on Earth? Perhaps for protection? Had the Silver Kingdom indeed fallen? He would have to find one of his aids to tell him of what had transpired while he had been recuperating. Or even better, find Serenity.  
  
Reaching into his power reservoirs, Endymion was surprised to find them somewhat, dusty, would best describe it. They had long remained un-tapped. Which made no sense since he would regularly use his powers, either in his training sessions or on the battlefield. They could not have gained this much misuse in the short time he had rested.  
  
Remembering the thin bond, Endymion chose to ignore the coincidence that the length of time between then and now had again become an issue. He had to find Serenity.  
  
Outside the fruit parlor, Endymion brushed off his gifts and peered at the ground around him. The light pavement and glaring sun above made it hard to make out, but finally, he caught the glint of the silver cord Serenity had left behind. His gaze fastened to the sidewalk, he followed it.  
  
So focused was he on that singular strand only he could see, Endymion never looked up. The modern world zoomed past him, as it usually did, and went unnoticed by the amnesic prince. It wasn't until the bond left the chalk- colored cement of the sidewalk to the dark asphalt of the street that he had moment to pause.  
  
And that was only because of the thin, yet sturdy arm of the old lady waiting at the crosswalk next to him. She reached out bony fingers and halted the young man just before we walked into the busy intersection.  
  
Endymion could only blink as a red blur sped by. It paused slightly as the driver turned and shouted something obscene at him, then went about his way. Endymion stood motionless for a short moment before he finally spoke, "What manner of beast was that?"  
  
It appeared to be a carriage, but no horses drew it. It was faster than any other creature he had ever seen and made an awful noise, like giant gears grinding together. The red-contraption was surrounded by others like it, but they came in all shapes and sizes.  
  
The old woman who had saved his life clucked her tongue and answered, "Kids these days. That young man is going to put someone in a wheelchair, or worse if he doesn't lighten up on the gas pedal."  
  
"Yes, but, what are these machines?" Endymion felt himself captured by the beauty of lines, the sheen of their many-colored paint jobs. Even the gods- awful noise they made held an appeal completely foreign to the wayward prince.  
  
"Machines? You mean cars?" The old woman blinked from behind the massive glasses perched on her nose, "Haven't you ever seen a car before?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Are you Amish?"  
  
"I do not think so." The cars began to inexplicably halt their mad race, and Endymion stepped out to the closest one and ran his palm in reverence, "How long have these remarkable engines been available?"  
  
The driver of the car he had been admiring blasted his horn, then stuck his head out his window, "Hey, hands off the paint-job, buddy!" "I beg your pardon?" Endymion stood straighter, ready to exude some authority before that surprisingly strong, old lady grabbed him by the bicep and pulled him across the intersection with her.  
  
"I had no idea we had any Amish people around Tokyo, but you obviously don't have a clue." The old woman stopped him when they stepped up onto the curb on the other side of the street, then turned him to face her as she lectured, "Cars have been around since before I was born. They can be very dangerous, especially if a nice, young man like yourself steps into the middle of a busy intersection and ends up toothpaste under somebody's Firestones. Don't walk into the street unless it says walk." The woman pointed an aged finger at the blinking sign over their head, "Take care of yourself, and I suggest you get back to your brotherhood as quickly as possible. The Amish don't stand a chance in a city like this."  
  
Endymion just nodded stupidly, then bowed slightly as the old woman shuffled off, still muttering to herself about "those crazy Amish." Shaking his own head, Endymion searched the ground for the silver strand between himself and Serenity, finding it led across the busy street again. As he waited for the "walk" sign to flash, he used the time to appreciate the automobiles, then crossed the street at the signs bidding. So much was different. The cars, the way people spoke and dressed. The old woman had said that the miraculous engines had been around since before she had been born. And that certainly looked like a very long time indeed.  
  
Which only left Endymion with more questions. How long had he been in a dormant state? What had happened to the world he had known, to Serenity's? Was she truly this, Usagi? Perhaps he had mistaken her for Serenity.  
  
Endymion shook his head at that. The girl he had held in his arms earlier had been Serenity. Their bond, no matter how weak it was at the moment, was unmistakable.  
  
He followed the chord down the street a little longer before it took a turn into a lushly green setting. A pathway wound through green grass and heavily leafed trees. Flowers of every shape, scent and color littered beds, and in the center was a softly lapping pond that housed ducks and other aquatic life forms. There was something vaguely familiar about the place, but Endymion didn't realize what it was until he followed the soul bond to a giant oak tree, one he definitely did recognize. This was the tree that he had met Serenity under so many times before the tension between the Earth and Moon had turned irreparably bleak. It was much larger now, but he could feel the love that Serenity and he had shared emanating from it even now. As he drew closer, he could see that it had become the vessel of vandals, its flesh marred with initials in groupings he couldn't understand.  
  
But his attention was immediately diverted when he heard the soft whimper of a girl from behind the massive trunk. Stealthily moving around the tree, he found her there, knees drawn to chest, arms wrapped around her shins tightly. Her face was buried in her up drawn legs, and her slim shoulders shook with her grief. Grief he had placed there.  
  
Fighting the urge to scoop her up into his arms, Endymion forced himself to strategize how to confront her. He did not know the reason for her calling herself Usagi, or calling him Mamoru, but calling her by her true name seemed only to upset her. Perhaps her memory had been erased, or she was under an assumed name to protect herself on this new Earth? Whatever it was, he would have to play the game if he was to get close to her again.  
  
Endymion licked his lips and said the name once in his head, hoping to gain a little familiarity with it before he spoke it out loud, "Usagi?"  
  
Usagi's head jerked up and her red-rimmed eyes simultaneously filled with new tears and renewed anger, "Mamoru-baka, what are you doing here?"  
  
Endymion winced at the tag-on she used with his other name. He did not know what "baka" meant, but he could only guess that it was not an endearment, "I was worried about you."  
  
The blonde woman-child snorted, something that Serenity had never done, and it only increased his concern another leap and bound as she snarled at him, "Shouldn't you be more worried about yourself? You're the one who got slapped, remember?"  
  
"I was not expecting that." Endymion sat down, without waiting for an invitation, before he looked at her with heated eyes, "It will not happen again."  
  
"Not if you don't leave, now." Usagi spat, uncomfortable with how comfortable he seemed to be, "I don't want you here."  
  
"But I want to be here."  
  
"I don't care what you want." Usagi narrowed her eyes as the man next to her only leaned back against the tree and made himself right at home. She expelled a frustrated breath and stood stiffly, "Fine, I'll leave."  
  
But his hand shot out and manacled her wrist, just like earlier, trapping her before she could make good her escape, "Think about that before you act."  
  
Usagi pulled at her wrist, but his grip was uncompromising. What was with the jerk today? Did he really get such great kicks out of tormenting her? But she voiced none of those questions as she yanked at her arm once again and asked instead, "Why?"  
  
"If you leave, I will follow." Endymion's eyes were as hard and unyielding as his hand about hers, "And I like it here. I could not pick a better place for us to talk."  
  
Usagi gasped, trembling as she felt herself sink into the deep blue depths of his glorious eyes. She had never noticed how easily one could become completely entranced by those eyes, how easy it would be to forget everything and just be. But one stomp of her foot released his powerful spell, and she began to pull with all her might at his hold, "Let me go, Mamoru-baka!"  
  
"Never."  
  
That one word, that simple utterance sucked all the fight out of Usagi. She drew a sharp breath and let her arm go lax before she dropped to her knees in front of him. The desperation on her face grew more apparent when she spoke, "I could run. I could hide."  
  
Endymion lifted his free hand to trace the line of her face as he leaned forward to whisper for her ears only, "I would chase you. I would find you."  
  
Usagi felt her heart sing and break at the same time. Sing because what he said had sounded so earnest, so full, so everything she had ever wanted to hear. And it broke because she knew it couldn't be any of those things. Not if Chiba Mamoru had said them.  
  
But, still...if only she could trust those shining eyes, "No, Mamoru. Don't say that."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because it isn't true! You and I both know that." Her eyes, wet with fresh tears searched his features as she remembered, "Motoki-san said you had hit your head earlier. That is the reason you're saying all this. You need rest, and when you wake up tomorrow, you'll realize what a huge mistake all of this had been."  
  
Endymion shook his head, ignoring the splurge of jealousy at her mentioning the suitor's name. His grip on her hand loosened and shifted down to capture her fingers. Drawing her into him, he pressed her palm flat against his chest, where his heart thumped wildly beneath her reluctant touch, "No. You and I have never been a mistake. Ser-Usagi, I love-"  
  
But the very willing touch of the fingers of her other hand on his lips halted him mid-declaration, and the desperation in her eyes became palpable as she shook her head violently, blonde curls un-tucking from behind her ears and framing her face wildly, "No. Don't say it."  
  
Endymion took the hand at his mouth into his so that he held both her hands to his chest, clenching them tightly, unwilling to let go, "But-"  
  
"Promise me." Tears fell free from her lashes and trailed down her face, which drew even closer to his with her plea, "Promise me you'll never say that again."  
  
Endymion only looked into her eyes briefly, before leaning forward and gently kissing each, tear-soaked eyelid. Usagi simply shuddered into him again and relished the intimate moment before he finally released her totally.  
  
There was a moment of silence as both decided what to do next. He had not answered her request, but Usagi took his silence as a yes. She knew she should leave it at that, turn away and go, as she had wanted to with every fiber of her being a moment ago.  
  
But that was a moment ago, and now she was looking for any excuse to stay.  
  
"Why did you come here?" Endymion suddenly spoke, rattling Usagi from her self-conflicting thoughts, giving her exactly what she had wished for.  
  
"I don't know." Usagi shrugged, then settled down next to the sullen, dark- haired boy who had turned her life upside down in the lapse of one hour, "This is just where I come to think."  
  
Usagi glanced at him from the corner of her eyes, waiting for a zinger. Something like, "Think? You?" That would be something she'd expect, but, like everything else today, she got, "Why is that?"  
  
She shrugged again, "It's beautiful here. I like what the tree stands for."  
  
"What does it stand for?"  
  
Usagi turned to face him, shooting him an incredulous look, but he was gazing intently on the carved up bark of the tree they sat under. He looked so open at that moment, like he trusted her completely. Usagi had never seen Mamoru look like he did now, relaxed in a white button-up Oxford shirt and khaki slacks. Peeking from between the lapels of his shirt was a leather chord and medallion that glinted in the soft sunlight. It captured her attention as she licked her lips once again, her mouth suddenly dry. What was his question again?  
  
"What?"  
  
"The tree, what does it stand for?" Endymion returned his attention back to Usagi, and was amused to find her staring openly at his chest. Amused and pleased. He had not promised her not to say he loved her anymore, and even if he had, she had not made him promise to not show her he did. But that she had stayed and was in fact, aroused in his presence, boded well for him.  
  
"Oh, it, uh-"Usagi stopped herself with a giggle and swift shake of her head before she dragged her eyes back up to his, "There is a legend about this tree. I'm surprised you haven't heard it." When he made no comment on whether he knew the tale or not, she continued, "According to legend, a pair of forbidden lovers used to meet under this tree. This was supposed to be a long time ago, an Earth long forgotten. But for as long as recorded history, true soul mates have been drawn to this tree. This place is booked through the next century for weddings."  
  
Usagi flushed and tucked her stray curls behind her ears, breaking their eye contact suddenly and looking out at the glittering pond. She was such a dope, sitting here beneath this beautiful, old tree, waxing romantic with the man she just made promise not to tell her he loved her. What a goofball!  
  
Endymion smiled at her sudden shyness, taking the moment to watch her. She was so different. She wasn't Serenity, but she was at the same time. It was difficult to pinpoint where one began and the other ended. She had the same heart, the same easy smile, the same bottomless eyes he wanted to wrap up in and never leave. However, the heart was stronger now, the smile more open and real, the eyes held a fire and vitality he didn't recall in the Serenity of old. She acted...she acted as if she hadn't been born and bred to be the queen of a vast empire.  
  
So, this was Serenity had she not had the ties and duties of destiny that had bound her before. She was more an enigma now than she had been when she first appeared in his family's gardens.  
  
Chuckling at that irony, Endymion lifted his arms over his head and fell onto his back, staring up at the green canopy of the same tree he had looked up at the first time he and Serenity had...  
  
"Those forbidden lovers. What did they do under this tree, I wonder?" Endymion closed his eyes and allowed the memory of their first time wash over him. And he was perfectly content to relive that moment over and over again until he felt the ground next to him shift as her weight fell next to him. He pried an eye open and saw her lying beside him, her own gaze intent on the area over them.  
  
"I wouldn't know. Things that forbidden lovers do, I guess." She turned her head and caught him staring at her, and she smiled softly and flushed again as she whispered, "I really, don't know."  
  
Endymion wanted so badly to reach out and pull her over him, to remind her of exactly what forbidden lovers do. But they were in public, and her timid smile showed him exactly how much she didn't know. Which couldn't be possible since they had...what was happening? None of this made sense!  
  
"This tree," Endymion suddenly spoke, changing his internal subject with external query, "if it is so sacred to lovers, why have they hacked into it as they have?"  
  
"Hacked?" Usagi's brows puckered in thought before they lifted with realization. Rolling over onto her stomach, she stretched out a hand to finger one of the carvings on the trunk, "These? Well, it is said that if you carve the initials of yourself and the one you love into the bark, you'll stay with that person forever."  
  
"And people believe that brutalizing a poor tree will really do that?" Endymion lifted a cynical brow at that.  
  
Usagi laughed at his skepticism before she nodded enthusiastically, "It's worked for my parents so far."  
  
Endymion's head shot up at that. The Queen? Had she found a new consort in the time he had-  
  
"There it is," Usagi pointed at a tiny spot in the middle of the other scrawled letters, "T.I. plus T.K. Takuechi Ikuko and Tsukino Kenji. Daddy carved these in the trunk the night of his first date with my mother."  
  
"Those are your parent's names?" Endymion asked, his confusion now fully compact. If he had any clue to modern proverbs, he'd probably say that he wasn't in Kansas anymore.  
  
But Endymion wasn't, so let's just say he wasn't in the Silver Millennium anymore.  
  
"Yep, I know. Tsukino Usagi, it's a pretty funny name. Especially translated into English." Usagi tilted her head as she read the initials in her line of sight with a wistful sigh.  
  
"What does it translate to?"  
  
Usagi looked at him like he'd grown another head before she balled up a fist to punch him. But true to his word, the punch never hit home as he caught it effortlessly. Not that she had meant to hit him hard, or with any malice, but Usagi's eyes widened in complete surprise before she stuttered, "N-now I-I-I know you h-hit your head to h-hard. It means 'Rabbit of the Moon.'"  
  
"Oh." Endymion said simply. And instead of simply dropping her hand, he opened the fist with his fingers until their palms lay flush to one another, then laced his fingers through hers and held tight. Usagi simply watched as he did this with round eyes before she said, "I should go home."  
  
"I'll take you." He offered and stood, his hand still holding firmly to hers and pulling her up after him.  
  
"That isn't necessary." Usagi began to protest, but Endymion simply turned a stare at her that told her without words that he was not to be dissuaded. So Usagi simply shrugged and took the lead, managing to disengage her hand from his. She also managed to dismiss the empty aching left in the palm of her hand at the loss of the contact with only a little bit of difficulty, thank you.  
  
Endymion followed faithfully, his head swimming with questions. Nothing was familiar, everyone was dressed strangely, the only thing he recognized was in the window of some shop. And that was the costume worn by some superhero/idol named Sailor V, and even that was different than the fuku worn by the senshi that protected Serenity on the Moon. The buildings were taller than anything he had ever seen before. Nobody smiled or acknowledged one another as they passed, but they may have been because of their vast numbers crowding the safe place to walk. A horn from one of those magnificent engines startled Endymion and he blinked in succession as the operator of the machine stuck his head through the window and shouted something he could only guess was instructions on how the operator in front of him should operate his engine. Something about putting something somewhere where the sun didn't shine.  
  
Endymion had been so intent on watching the scene unfold as the second operator had actually stepped out of his engine into the dangerous walking area to confront the first with his own thoughts on the matter that he did not see Usagi stop. And if it hadn't been for the years of intensive battle training, he probably would barreled right through her. Luckily, from the corner of his eye he caught her halted form and instinctively took a step back rather than forward. Usagi smirked at his poise, then looked at him expectantly.  
  
For what, exactly, Endymion couldn't fathom. So he clasped his hands behind his back and struck a pose of prone patience and returned her look just as expectantly.  
  
To which Usagi rolled her eyes, "We're here."  
  
Endymion fought confusion as he looked at the window boasting a woman's statue wearing some gaudy and extremely brief frock, "You live here?"  
  
"No." Usagi shook her head and threw up her hands in resignation, "I've made up my mind. That knock to your head has killed any of the brain cells you had left in that thick skull of yours. Maybe you shouldn't be driving at all."  
  
Endymion's ears immediately perked up, "Drive?"  
  
"Yeah, drive. Driving is what people do in their cars." Usagi stated slowly, as if he was too daft to understand if she spoke at a regular pace. And Endymion would have taken offense if he hadn't followed her hand gesturing to the apple-red, sleek, very-fast-looking engine next to them.  
  
He didn't want to believe her at first, but the look on her face when he looked back at her told him it was no jest. A grin Endymion was sure had never stretched his face so tight before split through his confusion as he took a step towards the engine and lifted a reverent hand, halting just before he made contact, his eyes flying to Usagi's in a degree of trepidation and asked, "May I touch it?"  
  
Usagi snorted, which Endymion decided he didn't like her doing that much, whether she remembered who she was or not, and answered, "It's your car, you can do whatever you like to it."  
  
"My car?" Endymion let his hand drop onto the smooth surface, and if possible, his grin grew, "This is my car?"  
  
Usagi didn't answer, because one, it was a really stupid question. Of course it was his car! The second reason, and more dominant one at that, was that his expression was too beautiful at that moment to spoil it with any tarty swing she could take at him. She had never seen him look so absolutely elated before, so perfectly content with everything around him.  
  
Which kind of wigged her out. Mamoru was supposed to be melancholy and morose all the time, not looking at a car he's owned at least since she had known him like a puppy in a pet shop window, "Okay, you should definitely not drive. I can just walk from here."  
  
"No." Endymion replied shortly, his beautific expression raining over her as he finally looked up from the car's exterior, "Please, my lady, allow me to escort you home, in my car."  
  
He was such a gentleman about it, Usagi found herself ready to forget that the invitation sounded suspiciously like an excuse to say, "in my car," and smiled back at him, "Then get the keys and unlock it."  
  
For a moment, Endymion looked at her like he didn't know what she was talking about it. Because, of course, he didn't, but was familiar with the term "keys." Certainly, the "keys" to the machine would have to be on his person. Fishing through the pockets of his pants, he found what he assumed to be the "keys" to the engine. A contraption reading lock, unlock and arm caught his attention, as did the key chain that declared that – to paraphrase – "Manure Happens, Get Off My Road." Selecting the button reading "unlock," Endymion could only choke on a bubble of ecstatic laughter when there was a click and the door handle under his free hand opened for him. Holding his arms outstretched to either side of him, he posed in victory.  
  
Usagi only lifted a blonde eyebrow and twirled her index finger in tight circles as she circled the front of the car, opened her door and said sarcastically, "Give the man a medal, he can unlock a car."  
  
Endymion joined her in the leather-upholstered, bucket seat behind the steering wheel, before arching up to retrieve an umbrella he had sat on. He handed the umbrella to her and searched the car over in an exploratory manner that sent that earlier repressed unease trickling down her spine again, "Um, are you sure you can-"  
  
He found the ignition and slipped the key in effortlessly and turned the engine as the words rolled over her tongue. Sticking his head out the window, he turned the wheel and noticed the wheels move in response. When his foot hit the gas pedal he was rewarded with the roar of the active engine and his grin became unholy as he looked at Usagi, "I had figured as much."  
  
"What?"  
  
Endymion didn't answer as puzzled over the stick shift in the console between ancient prince and thoroughly modern girl before putting a confidant palm over the black-lacquered knob on top. The machinery seemed somewhat familiar, the answers to his questions coming from somewhere inside of him he couldn't zero in on. He was sure that the engine and its components were completely alien to him, so the insight couldn't have come from some long past memory. The idea of some foreign entity sleeping within him didn't make much comfort for him, but then, it was helping him drive a car. He couldn't complain.  
  
Inexplicably, Endymion reached over his head to the sun-visor, and retrieved a pair of sunglasses, which he had no idea they were sunglasses. None the less, he pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose, looked at Usagi with one corner of his mouth tilted at the same angle as one dark brow above the rim of the sunglasses and revved the engine before shifting the gears into drive and peeling out of the parking space into the steady stream of mid-day Tokyo traffic.  
  
He chose to ignore the squeal of distress erupting from Usagi's side of the car. He had the need. The need, for speed.  
  
^_~ ^_~ ^_~ ^_~ ^_~  
  
Usagi had decided, without any reservation, that she was lucky to be alive as Endymion pulled to a rather violent stop in front of her house. Her pulse still jumped at a hyper-active speed where her jaw and throat met, sweat had gathered at her hairline and she was sure she had to be flushed bright pink and breathing like a track star after the last stretch of a cross-country meet.  
  
It had not been the smoothest ride of her life, and if it hadn't been for what she had called, and then Whacko-Mamoru kept paraphrasing as the "Oh- Manure-Bar," – she had no idea where his sudden aversion to the word he was replacing "manure" with came from – she would probably be a babbling wreck right about now. Too many close calls for her taste.  
  
"Thanks for the lift, Tenou." Usagi muttered as she ran a shaking hand through one ponytail.  
  
Which Endymion snagged into his, scaring the crap out of her even further, "Are you all right? I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking. I just got caught up in the engi-car."  
  
His tone was genuine in his apology, and Usagi's scowl softened some as she used her free hand to pat his hand entrapping hers. He was feeling awfully free with the hand-grabbing today, and Usagi tried gently to extract hers, but of course, his grip was as firm as ever, "That's okay. But I should really get going-"  
  
"Serenity-." Endymion caught himself, but he still felt Usagi still next to him, "Usagi, don't go."  
  
Usagi held her sharp intake of breath a few seconds before releasing it slowly and looking into his eyes, hoping he'd see the truth she was trying to get across to him, "I don't know who you think I am, but I'm not her."  
  
"But, you are." Endymion protested, his free arm reaching up to cup her chin.  
  
Usagi evaded his gesture and pierced him with eyes a vivid and clear blue, "No, I'm not. You seem to idolize this dream girl of yours way too much for me to be her." His mouth opened to argue, but she shook her head resolutely, "Come on, Mamoru. It's me. Usagi. You can't stand me, remember?"  
  
To which Endymion answered with a firm shake of his head, "No, I don't. That just isn't possible."  
  
"Don't." Usagi shot him a look that was supposed to be dirty, but only thinly veiled her desperation, "You promised me."  
  
"I did not promise anything," he whispered, his hand tightening over hers, "And what you asked me to not say, they were just words. You can never ask me to stop feeling the meaning in those words."  
  
His eyes bore into hers, willing her to believe him. And the funny thing was, she found herself inclined to do exactly as those midnight peepers bade her. She felt herself melting into him, a vain attempt to absorb much of this wonderful man as much as she could before he went all Jekyll and Hyde on her again. Wouldn't it just figure that she got the monster most of the time and not the dashing prince?  
  
Endymion watched as her eyes unfocused and felt his own pulse leap and bound in his throat. She was still pink from the ride over, and though her breath had steadied itself mere seconds before, it audibly caught in her lungs as he sensed her arousal. Her lips were parted in her fight for breath, and they looked as soft and sweet as he had last remembered them. Unable to resist, Endymion leaned forward to relive the memory in the here and now.  
  
Usagi was perfectly content to let him too, since this whole screwy day had to be a dream. And really, what was the harm in letting a specter of her famously vivid imagination steal a kiss or two? Even if she had never dream-kissed Chiba Mamoru before, there was a first time for everything. Real-life Chiba Mamoru never had to know.  
  
And Usagi was rather happy in her wishful reasoning until she poked herself rather viciously with one of the spokes of the umbrella she still held in her lap. Gasping back into reality, Usagi's eyes widened as she realized that her lips and Endymion's lips were scant millimeters from meeting in a very intimate way. A small yelp erupted from her throat and she quickly drew back before she unbuckled the strap on the umbrella and popped it open between herself and Endymion's invading lips.  
  
Where Endymion had expected the gentle welcome of her kiss, he got instead a smacker-full of nylon. His eyes shot open and looked incredulously at the contraption in front of him, before swatting it down to discover Usagi's seat vacant, the passenger door flung open and Usagi bounding up the steps of her front stoop. She turned only a quick look over her shoulder at the vehicle containing the madman she had barely escaped a romantic liaison with before she threw her open front door and disappeared into the interior of her home with a slam of the door behind her.  
  
Endymion found all he could do was blow an agitated breath out the corner of his mouth before the still open umbrella escaped his grasp and the same spoke that had jabbed Usagi out of her dream-state, poked the Prince of Earth in the eye.  
  
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!  
  
Part Two is outta here! Stay tuned for part three!  
  
If you liked, let a gal know:  
  
kamikaze_bunny_eater@yahoo.com  
  
And be sure to visit the site:  
  
www.chibicori.virtue.nu  
  
Hasta!  
  
Cori (A WAFF Princess) 


	3. Quixote Complex Part Three of Three

Quixote Complex  
Part 3 of 3  
Author: ChibiCori  
e-mail: kamikazebunnyeateryahoo.com  
site: www.chibicori.virtue.nu  
rating: PG  
  
Disclaimer: So...guess what? I don't own Sailormoon. I don't own Don Quixote. I really don't own anything but the slipping grip on my sanity.  
  
Summ: Quixote Complex concludes where it began, with a baseball!  
  
Quixote Complex  
Part 3 of 3  
  
Usually pulling her pink, rubber-handled brush through her hair was a kind of end-of-the-day therapy for Usagi. Gods knew she had enough hair to make it a true chore, but the repetition and steady strokes had become a meditation for her. With each tangle she un-snagged, that much of her day was un-snagged with it.  
  
Tonight, however, left Usagi more in a catatonic trance than in her happy place. The single chunk of hair she had been brushing absent-mindedly for the past twenty minutes was proof enough of that.  
  
Her mind kept wandering; you guessed it, to Mamoru. Crazy Mamoru. Lonely Mamoru. Sad Mamoru. Sexy Mamo-  
  
Usagi's brush slipped from suddenly nerveless fingers and clattered onto the floor. Staring at her reflection through wide eyes, Usagi contemplated the wicked turn of her thoughts. Sexy? Mamoru? No. No.  
  
Yes, yes. She'd felt her reaction to him under the tree in the park; she knew how close she'd come to finding out just how much in the car. And she could damn well see her state by her face in the mirror, cheeks flushed, eyes suddenly darker, and breath coming a little quicker, just from thinking about the close calls she'd had with Sexy Mamoru all day.  
  
Groaning, Usagi dropped her forehead into the palms of her hands in a measure to hide her own arousal from her eyes. Life was not fair! She couldn't possibly be falling for Sexy – er – Crazy Mamoru. Whatever had sent him off his rocker was obviously affecting her too. It must have been something in the soda fountain at the Crown. That was the only explanation. It couldn't have been that she actually had feelings for Mamoru. Lonely, crazy, sad, and very sexy Mamoru.  
  
Mamoru-baka. That was more like it.  
  
Much more comfortable with the familiar tone of her old nickname for her (at least formerly) most diabolical foe, Usagi bent to retrieve her brush and therap-utize that man right out of her mind with the bristles.  
  
But a knock at her bedroom window scared the thought clear from her head and she screamed and fell out of her vanity chair. For a moment there was stillness in her room, if you didn't count Usagi's gasping breaths from her prone position on the floor, and then there it was again. Three raps at her window, clear as a bell, scary as death. Who would be knocking at her window so late at night? And she lived on the second story, how did they manage that?  
  
Not thinking to cover up her nightgown with the robe at the foot of her bed, Usagi felt under her bed for the first weapon handy and crawled toward her window. When she reached her destination, Usagi hesitated from actually answering the call. But she'd always been a curious girl, and calling up all the strength and courage she had accumulated as Sailormoon, she reached up and unlocked the window. After that she quickly slid it open, and with eyes squeezed tightly shut, lugged her weapon at the intruder.  
  
There was another stretch of silence and Usagi waited to hear a scream and the splat of someone falling to their death, or at least an offended, "Ow." Instead she heard only another second of quiet before a very masculine cough forced her to open her eyes.  
  
Mamoru – or rather – Endymion, sat on a tree branch directly in front of her, which was weird because Usagi didn't remember a tree branch growing so close to her window. He just grinned at her, looking as crazy, lonely, sad, sexy and baka-ish as ever. He held up her "weapon" and asked, "Did you intend to harm me with this?"  
  
"Yes!" Usagi bit out as she snatched her Raggedy-Ann doll back from him, holding it close to her under tightly crossed arms.  
  
"You did? After I risked life and limb just to see you?" Endymion's eyes lit up as Usagi lit up in a contradictory blush upon her cheeks and a blaze of fire in her eyes.  
  
"Who asked you to do that?"  
  
"My lady, if you have to ask to be serenaded, then your previous suitors have been sadly lacking in knowledge of the romantic gesture."  
  
'Previous suitors? Yeah right, most of the boys at school all know about Daddy's temper. They wouldn't try this let alone touch me with a ten-foot pole.' Usagi thought, but a loud only shooed him away, "Well, thanks but no thanks. You're just lucky Luna isn't here."  
  
Usagi mentally kicked herself for mentioning her guardian, but was thankful Mamoru didn't have a clue-  
  
"Luna? She is here?" Endymion leaned forward on his perch to poke his head in her room, "I must talk to her."  
  
Usagi's eyes nearly bulged out of her head and panic seized her insides. He needed to – talk – to Luna? A slave to her first impulse, Usagi flattened her palms against his chest and gave him a mighty push. A bit too mighty, it seemed, since the force succeeded in removing his torso from her room. Then went the next step of nearly sending him head over feet backwards and plummeting to the yard below. Well, he wouldn't necessarily be plummeting, that required a bit more height, but he'd definitely be falling more than what was considered a healthy tumble.  
  
Regardless, the hands that had pushed him one second earlier now snagged hold of the cotton fabric of his shirt and used that mighty strength to help steady him. Eyes crashed as Usagi suddenly found herself needing the support she had just given him, as her reach left her hanging halfway the window herself, her feet on tottering tiptoes on the floor inside her room. Endymion gave it effortlessly, and only gazed longingly into her eyes before he spoke, "All I wanted to do was talk to Luna."  
  
The reality of what he said jolted Usagi from her Endymion-induced stupor and she swallowed audibly as she did what she does best in moments like these, play stupid, "You do know that Luna is a cat, right?"  
  
"Of course, all her race-"Endymion stopped himself as he read the expression on Usagi's face. 'Don't go there,' he could almost hear her say in his head. Then again, she may have been 'thinking' into his mind. Serenity had been known to 'speak' to him that way on occasion before.  
  
But this was Usagi, and though he knew Serenity lie within nearly every aspect of the girl in his arm's soul, he could not deny that Usagi was her own person. It had, after all, been a millennia since he'd seen her last.  
  
With no knowledge of where to go after Usagi had fled from 'his car,' Endymion had also exited the vehicle and given serious thought to following. But remembering that look of fear mingled with confusion and want on her face when she had looked back at him before disappearing into her house, Endymion opted to take a walk instead. He didn't trust himself to be able to operate the car again, the sense of security and familiarity he'd had when he'd driven before disappeared when Usagi left its leather- seated interior.  
  
So, instead he walked. The first block was uneventful, the second held a yappy little dog that had chased him into the third. And in the third, he saw the newspaper lying on the lush green of somebody's yard. Intrigued by the bolded headline and picture of a pretty, young girl smiling brightly off the front, the newest 'idol' the paper had called her, Endymion had stopped to look. And had quickly taken note of the date. May 10, 2004.  
  
Hmm. Interesting...and then reality set in.  
  
"TWO THOUSAND FOUR?!" Endymion couldn't help but exclaim, quite obviously, his realization frightening birds from their roosts in tree branches all the way down the street, "That isn't possible!"  
  
Endymion wandered in a stupor for the rest of afternoon, suddenly understanding all that was around him, but with a whole new set of questions. How did he manage to remain unconscious for an entire millennia? Was it a Dark Kingdom trick? Was he really who he thought he was, and finally, who was the girl that embodied Serenity's spirit?  
  
They were one and separate at the same time. If she was, than was he the same as she? Was he this, Mamoru? And did Usagi/Serenity indeed hate him? His brain nearly imploded twice as the constant ring of questions hovered over him like a gloomy cloud.  
  
At the end of his troubled stroll, he found himself in front of Usagi's house again, and though doubt plagued his every thought, something he was not at all used to, had ended up where he was now. Sitting outside Usagi's bedroom window (a very lucky guess on his part, as one could safely assume she did not live alone in the cheerful house) and holding 112 pounds of warm, sweet-smelling enigma in his arms. And both Endymion and the stranger inside him (or was it the other way around) could only rejoice silently as his arms wrapped about her shapely waist tighter.  
  
"M-Mamoru-chan?"  
  
Usagi's tremulous voice pulled him from his thoughts and Endymion looked into the same clear blue eyes as the princess of a long gone moon kingdom. Again, as one could only assume, "Yes, Usagi?"  
  
Usagi sucked in a deep breath and expelled softly before she smiled with trembling lips, "It is nice when you say my name."  
  
"What else would I call you?"  
  
"Odango Attama."  
  
It took a moment for Endymion to realize what she was saying, the buried part supplying her word's meaning, "Dumpling Head?" He watched as Usagi turned pink in the soft moonlight and ducked her head in embarrassment, one of her buns brushing his cheek. A chagrined smile tilted one side of his mouth as he lifted one of the hands from her waist to gently tug at one of the golden balls atop her head, "Oh I see, because of these."  
  
Usagi nodded and sniffed a bit, "I know they're silly, but I've always worn my hair like this."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I don't know." Usagi shrugged, and was a bit surprised to find that she had not attempted to shrug out of his hold as she had intended, but folded herself further into it, "They just feel like me."  
  
A long finger crooked under her chin and lifted her eyes to meet his. Deep, midnight blue eyes settled on hers, and they were open, unmasked and nearly luminescent with his sincerity, "They are beautiful. Never change them, no matter what I may say. Know I have not meant a word I have said before this day."  
  
Usagi swallowed past a lump in her throat and hid her face in his chest, her face tucked safely away from his intense oath by the column of his throat. He couldn't do this to her, not when she was so sure about him. But then, while he was confessing, "I never meant anything I said either."  
  
"You mean you don't think I'm a baka?" His chuckle rumbled deep in his throat.  
  
Usagi felt the vibration clear down to her toes. She could only sigh and smile as she lifted her head from its cozy nest and admit, "Among other things."  
  
Full, deep laughter was her response this time and Usagi thrilled at. She had never heard Mamoru laugh before, and it was a marvelous sound. She found herself wanting to make him laugh again, hopefully with her rather than at her. Usagi had been about to say something else he might find humorous with that exact purpose in mind before she was distracted by the moonlight glinting off of the medallion at the base of his throat that she had noted earlier that day. Fingering it, she found herself asking, "What is this medallion you wear? I've never seen anything like it." Though, oddly enough, it seemed familiar.  
  
Endymion's brows drew together in confusion momentarily before gently pushing her hand away from the item of which she spoke, gave a short tug at the leather cord at his neck, which gave way and lifted the smooth metal attached for inspection. The part of him that had so many answers before was silent, but he did not need its aid for this one. One look at the winged horse surrounded by ripened wheat and a word engraved in an ancient language that few ever learned outside of his family, and Endymion knew what it was, "It is the insignia of Elysian."  
  
"Elysian?" Usagi's nose wrinkled in lack of recognition, "What's that?"  
  
"Elysian isn't a 'that,' it is a 'where.' Here." Endymion dropped the medallion into her palm and ran his index finger over each component as he explained it to her, "Elysian is the land of dreams. This," Endymion pointed to the horse, "is Pegasus, the beast that signifies Elysian's Holy Order, the priest and shrine maidens. And the wheat means that the dreams and hopes of mankind on Earth are reaped and sown there."  
  
"And this?" Usagi's finger touched at the very tip with his as she joined him in fingering the word in its lovely, swooping script, "What is this?"  
  
"It means 'Protect.'" Endymion caught her finger in his before she pulled it away and used it to capture the rest within his palm and drew it to his mouth, his breath hot against her knuckles and his eyes capturing hers in the most intense moment of her life thus far, "Elysian is the protector of the royal family of Earth, and those they love."  
  
His eyes bore into hers as he managed to emphasize his last words without changing the volume or tone of his voice. In fact, he hadn't spoken in more than a whisper and she felt the impact of what he said throughout her entire body. Any thought of pulling away or heartache melted away as if no transgression had ever existed between them before. There was no then, only here. Only now. And here and now was impossibly wonderful.  
  
To punctuate the magic moment between them when both just were happy to be together, Endymion placed a kiss in her palm, though he desired to kiss her mouth with every fiber of his being. But she was not quite ready for him to go there yet.  
  
The look in her eyes as he folded her fingers over his kiss, however, told him it wouldn't be too long.  
  
Usagi could only swallow and attempt to get some spit back in her suddenly dry mouth. She pulled her clenched fist between them and laid it to rest on her breast, where her heart thundered so loud she was sure he had to hear it. The entire block had to hear it, she was surprised people weren't sticking their heads out their windows and shouting for her to keep it down. But if Mamoru could hear her silly heart, he didn't let on. He just watched her, his eyes shining with his desire, his want and his devotion for her. Things that had never been there before. Would they still be there tomorrow?  
  
'Please, oh please. Still feel this way tomorrow.'  
  
However beautiful the moment though, Usagi found herself increasingly uncomfortable in it. She was fourteen and in no way used to such grand gestures of romance. In an attempt to alleviate some of the intensity, she looked down at the necklace resting in her other hand, the one holding his kiss still clutched to her chest, "Royal family of Earth? Get outta here!"  
  
The light doused from his face immediately at her wording, and he withdrew from her, both physically and emotionally. Usagi started at his cold demeanor, and at how she suddenly felt naked and exposed without the shelter of his arms. Horrified, she watched as a mask of darkness replaced the face that mere seconds before had been all she had ever wanted to see there and he spoke sharply, "I do not know what more I can do or say to take this mistrust of me from you. There is nothing more I want than for you to understand me and motives, but if you wish me to go-"  
  
"No!"  
  
Surprising both of them, Usagi vaulted herself at as he began to move back on his perch. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she held on tight. Her full weight hung on him, making him very certain that her toes no longer touched the ground on her side of the window. Her nose touched his and her eyes looked steadily into his, her desperation plain to see, "Stay, please stay."  
  
Endymion needed no more encouragement. One thankful arm wrapped replaced itself around Usagi's waist, the other lifted a hand to wrap around her nape and held her as tightly as she held him, "I will stay as long as you will me to, princess."  
  
Usagi's chest swelled as she buried her face into the nook where his jaw and neck met and soaked in the feel of his body pressing against nearly every inch of hers, save for there bottom halves which preoccupied different spaces and that couldn't be helped. She felt tears sting the back of her eyes and she allowed her fingers to bury themselves in the thick mass of his hair. Not once in her life could she remember feeling so complete, and strangely, like she had been reunited with him. A part of her, hidden beneath many years of hibernation, stirred and glowed at the familiarity of the embrace and begged more. More of what, exactly, Usagi had no clue. But she suddenly found herself yearning just as much as the duel sense in the back of her mind.  
  
"Stay with me. Don't ever leave." Usagi whispered into his ear, "I want it to stay like this forever. Please, don't change back."  
  
Endymion trembled at the tinge of panic in her voice. He had already guessed that she and Mamoru did not get along, but he also felt within him what was there of Mamoru cared for her as deeply as Endymion did. But he could also sense that Mamoru would pull away from her when he returned to consciousness, for Endymion had no doubt who was out of place in this body. The pain ripping through Usagi's voice had been put there by the stranger in the body of the boy she thought she had known so well, he had confused her. He knew Mamoru would break her heart when he returned. And would be Endymion's fault. If only he could make Mamoru realize they belonged together. Could he?  
  
Pulling all his strength and will together within the recesses of his mind, Endymion bellowed in the direction of where he had felt the twinges of Mamoru's psyche, 'Mamoru, you do not know me, and I do not know you. I do not think I would care to know you if I had the chance, the way Usagi mistrusts you. But know this, if you break this girl's heart, you will regret it. I need not threaten you, for you will truly have made the greatest mistake of your life if you do not scoop up the opportunity I have left at your feet.'  
  
"Promise me?" Usagi's whimper was what he was met with when he turned his thoughts outward, "Promise me you'll always be like this. I don't think I could stand it if you didn't."  
  
Endymion choked down a lump and managed a coarse reply, not willing to lie to her, but not willing to break her heart just yet. For the truth was, he could be gone tomorrow, and in that case, he wanted tonight, "You made me promise you something earlier." He felt Usagi's head bobbing up and down on his shoulder, "Do you rescind your request?"  
  
A strangled sob erupted from Usagi and she pulled back enough to look back in his eyes, unshed tears brightening her eyes to an impossible shade of blue as she sniffled and responded, "Oh, yes! Say it, please say it."  
  
The hand that had been wrapped around her neck slid forward to capture her chin in the v of his thumb and forefinger, as if to make her look at him. Which was entirely unnecessary as she couldn't have looked away now if her life depended on it, "I love you."  
  
Usagi closed her eyes as the melodic sound of his words reverberated through her head, heart and soul and a single tear slid from her eye. She felt his thumb move to swipe it away, but she lifted the hand she had pressed to her heart and captured his wrist as he had so many times earlier today and stopped him. Her eyes opened and Endymion's breath snagged as he basked in their glow, as they had done long ago, when the golden girl in his arms had been his, and only his. He felt she wished to respond in kind to him, but she halted. And he knew, though it was with a twist of his heart, that it was because her love was not for him, Endymion. It was for the other him, Mamoru.  
  
Usagi let out a soft breath at her reluctance to say she loved him back, but it didn't feel right. Later though, later she knew she would tell him she did, in fact, love him. And then she would never stop.  
  
To him now, she only could respond with a grateful and whole-hearted, "Thank you."  
  
Endymion shook his head, lifting his other hand to cradle her face with the other, feeling her slide away slightly as her feet touched down on terra firma once again, but he leaned in with her, their faces still as close as they had been in the intimate moment before, "You do not have to thank me. But know that I do love you, no matter what happens tomorrow, or even the day after that. No matter what I might say or forget. My every breath, action and thought is because I love you. And I will never stop."  
  
Her response, this time, was a long time coming. She looked at him with fathomless blue eyes only for a moment before she leaned up on her toes and closed the already miniscule gap between their mouths. Endymion allowed surprise for only a second and then fell into her kiss, the knot of need and longing he'd experienced since awakening in that black hovel dissolving under her tender ministrations. This was what he had been waiting for, and now he felt he could leave this time and place having gotten what he came for. One last moment, one last look, one last kiss.  
  
And the kiss was soft and warm. It was shy and bold at the same time, and between them, he felt their soul bond resonate, glow and grow stronger. In her kiss, he felt the part of her that was Serenity kiss him back, her reasons for surfacing the same as his. They had to say goodbye.  
  
For Usagi, she was on cloud nine. She didn't know what had possessed her to kiss the boy sitting on a tree branch in front of her second story window, but she only enjoyed it now. Fortunately, it was the best first kiss a girl could have ever asked for. Unfortunately, that mere peck by the standards of most was as far as they got.  
  
And that was only because Usagi had shoved him away and threw her window closed when she heard the knock only her father used before he entered a room. She heard a distressed cry behind her, but ignored any further noise as her father cracked the door open a second later and poked his head through. Whatever harm she did Mamoru was a billion times better than what Kenji would have done if he had found them together, "Usagi?"  
  
"Yes, Daddy?" Usagi's heart was racing a mile a minute and under her death- grip on the windowsill her palms grew sweaty.  
  
"Lights out, huney-buns. You've got to get up early tomorrow for Shingo's baseball game."  
  
"Sure thing, Daddy! No problem, I'm on my way!" Usagi wished she could unglue her hands so she could clap them over her mouth in a not-so-subtle way to quit her nervous babbling.  
  
A brow lifted over the top of Kenji's glasses and he took a step into his daughter's room, "Are you okay? Why are you standing if front of the window?"  
  
Usagi's insides froze and said quickly, "Nothing. Not a thing. Not a single thing."  
  
Apparently she was too quick to so enthusiastically deny any wrong-doing, because the second brow joined the first and he completely entered the room as he crossed his arms in front of him, "What are you up to, young lady?"  
  
Usagi cringed, oh dear, this wasn't good, "Me? Moi? Nothing, nada, zilch, zip, zero, non-existent," Usagi continued to recite the thesaurus act as her father crossed the room, managed with some effort to pry her loose from the sill and peered out the window. Only then did Usagi quiet, her breath bated and waited for her dad to lose it.  
  
Kenji looked at her sharply, and Usagi readied herself for a severe tongue- lashing. Instead, however, Kenji put the back of his hand to Usagi's forehead and felt her temperature for a few seconds, "Are you feeling well, Usagi. You feel a little warm, and you look flushed." To which Usagi flushed deeper because she knew exactly what it was that put her in her state, "Let's get you in bed."  
  
"Okay!" Usagi bolted across the room and into her bed, her father following. He tucked her in, pulling the blankets under her chin. Kenji felt her forehead once more and worry creased his brow.  
  
"I should get your mother."  
  
"NO!" Usagi sat up and grabbed her father's hand before he could turn to leave. He looked at her through round eyes and Usagi put on a meeker façade and laid back down, "No really, Daddy. You don't have to bother Mama, I'm sure I'll feel better in the morning."  
  
"I don't know." Kenji rocked his jaw back and forth in one hand as he considered Usagi's diagnosis.  
  
"You better go, so I can get some sleep. Shingo's got a big game tomorrow, after all!" Usagi smiled a little too brightly, but her father didn't seem to notice as he caved and reached down to tuck her back into bed.  
  
"There you go, all cozy and snug." Kenji dropped a kiss to Usagi's forehead; thankful it had already started to cool under his lips and smiled down at his only girl, "Nightie-night huney-buns."  
  
"Nightie-night, Daddy." Usagi wished in earnest, loving her father for all his concern. That didn't keep her, however, from jumping out of the cozy nest he'd created for her the moment he'd closed the door behind him. She opened her window and stuck her head out, her eyes searching through the branches of the tree for Mamoru, or wherever he had hidden himself away. But when she heard a grown come from below, Usagi looked down and swallowed her own grown.  
  
It appeared as Mamoru had hidden himself away on the ground. And though it was dark and shadow from the tree obscured him in darkness, Usagi was pretty sure he'd been knocked unconscious. Like earlier, when all this wonderfulness had begun.  
  
"Oh please, oh please, oh please be okay." Usagi prayed as she grabbed her robe off the hook on the back of her door, eased her door open and tiptoed down the hall and stairs. When she reached the main floor, she dashed across the entryway and out the door quicker than she even did when she woke up late for school on an exam day.  
  
Vaulting some low bushes that flanked her walkway, Usagi ran across her house's green lawn before dropping to her knees at Mamoru's side, "Oh, Mamo- chan. Mamo-chan, wake up! Can you hear me?" Mamo-chan?"  
  
He didn't answer with anything more than a low moan, and Usagi gingerly lifted his head into her lap and ran soothing fingers through his ebony hair, "Mamo-chan, please wake up. You have to wake-up now."  
  
His eyes fluttered at that, and Usagi swallowed a yelp and continued to stroke his head as his eyes finally lifted, pupils trying their darndest to focus on the face above him. He blinked and then squinted, lifting a hand and stopping just short of touching her face, and though Usagi silently willed him to complete the action, if fell back onto his chest as he said in a think and dazed voice, "Princess?"  
  
"Yes!" Usagi's heart tripped over itself. Mamoru had called her princess earlier, and endearment that had made her tingle all over when he'd said it. He was all right! He hadn't forgotten what had happened.  
  
Score!  
  
Meanwhile, the young man lying in her lap squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head in an attempt to clear his fuzzy thoughts and restore his eyesight to normal. The movement did the trick, but his skull felt ten times to small and he was sure his brain would be leaking through his ears any moment now.  
  
And to further his confusion, when he opened his eyes again, it was not the princess from his dreams who looked back as he'd thought. Blinking again, Mamoru looked up into the face for the first time with some clarity and said, "Odango Attama?"  
  
How the hell did he get-  
  
Suddenly, the hands smoothing his hair were gone, as was the pillow of silky thighs beneath his head, leaving him with no support. The back of his head cracked against the hard ground below, and for the second time – or was it the third –that day, Mamoru was swallowed in darkness.

Usagi pulled a blade of grass out of the ground glumly as she stared out at the lake glittering in the mid-morning sun. Behind her she heard the cheers from Shingo's baseball game and the crack of a bat connecting with the ball. But she didn't feel much like cheering. She didn't feel like much, if the truth must be told.  
  
Last night, Crazy-Lonely-Sad-Sexy Mamoru had reverted right back to Mamoru- baka. She should have known. She should have damn well known it was too good to be true. She had been up all night telling herself that exact thing. She just should have known.  
  
But it didn't make it hurt any less.  
  
Unwilling to leave an unconscious man in her front yard for any type of derelict wandering the streets in the middle of the night to find – or her father in the morning, should Mamoru-baka take his time waking up from this one – Usagi had waited for Mamoru to come back from the brink of unconsciousness. And when he did, she had simply given him some aspirin and without a single word, gone back into her house. She had feared if she said anything, she would have burst into tears. It just wasn't fair. Why did he have to hit his stupid head again?  
  
Ignoring a voice inside her that said that it was her who had pushed him off the tree limb anyway, Usagi sighed and lifted her knees to cradle her chin as she continued to feel sorry for herself.  
  
Weirdly enough, she couldn't find it in herself to be mad at Mamoru. It wasn't his fault he'd been wonderful to her for one day, made her fall head over heels in love with him, give him her first kiss and he had no friggin' clue that any of it had happened. She shouldn't have thought it would be a permanent thing. She'd set herself up for disappointment.  
  
And to top it all off, the baseball field in the park was just across the cement, walking path to the tree where Mamoru and Usagi had shared their first civil conversation. Where she had made him promise not to tell her he loved her only to beg him to say just that a few hours after that. Ten minutes into Shingo's game, Usagi had excused herself and wandered over, and had been there ever since.  
  
Boy, she was such a dope. She deserved to get her heart stomped on, she was a total idiot for falling for such romantic fodder.  
  
But still, Usagi's heart beat a little faster as she stretched herself out on the grass, turning on her side and grazing a hand over the grass where Mamoru had laid next to her only 24 hours earlier. Resting her head on her arm, Usagi lay like that for what seemed an eternity, reliving Mamoru's body next to hers, the touch of his gaze when it was tender and open to her. His smile, that laugh she had wanted to hear over and over so badly.  
  
A few traitorous tears over the bridge of her nose to join the others and slip into her hairline. Her heart wrenched as she realized how much she missed him, though it was just yesterday that she had been with him. Maybe it was because she knew she'd never see him again, at least not the Mamoru she'd come to love. If that even was Mamoru.  
  
Usagi remembered the name he had first called himself when he'd whacked poor Motoki over the head with that mop. Endymion. And he'd insisted she was Serenity, his princess. So, maybe, for just one day, she'd gotten to live a fairy tale. A beautiful, romantic and perfect fairy tale.  
  
Man, real life sucked after living like that, even if it was for one day.  
  
Usagi began to cry in earnest as she continued to run her hand over the grass, trying to purge all the emotions that clung to her. One day couldn't ruin her whole life! That was ridiculous. She just had to pretend that yesterday had never happened. That was it. She had never shared the most marvelous day with Chiba Mamoru, he never said he loved her and she never once fancied herself in love with him.  
  
Denial is a beautiful thing.  
  
And just when she had almost tricked herself into believing that, something happened.  
  
"Usagi?"  
  
She stilled, recognizing the voice without a second thought but still denying it was there. She was dreaming. There was no way he was here, now, with her. No freakin' way.  
  
"Usagi?"  
  
The second time it came, Usagi couldn't help herself. She sat up and slowly turned, facing what she knew couldn't be there.  
  
But he was, in all his all-fired glory. Oh gods, she didn't think her heart could take this twice.  
  
"I had a feeling you'd be here." Mamoru took a few more steps until he came under the protection of the tree's canopy of thick leaves.  
  
Usagi blinked. This just couldn't be! She had to be dreaming because there was no way that Mamoru had found himself back in this spot, at the same time she was. Shaking her head, she stared again. And still, he was there, standing above her. His blue eyes an unreadable storm, his hair catching fire in the sun that managed its way through the leaves. He looked...just like a prince. A prince in a fairy tale that Usagi knew she would never star in again. Unless Mamoru was hit by some random piece of sports equipment in the next minute.  
  
Usagi couldn't help herself as she made a quick scan of the park. Damn, not a thing in sight. Not even an angry squirrel throwing acorns. Just her rotten luck.  
  
Usagi's mind ran frantically about, trying to think of some logical explanation, but she came up with none. So finally, she just sighed in resignation and looked back up at Mamoru, asking, "What are you doing here?"  
  
Mamoru hesitated, his eyes still devoid of any emotional hints before he shrugged casually, "I really don't know. I woke up, brushed my teeth, put on a pair of pants and went for a walk. This is where my feet led me."  
  
Usagi felt her breath snag. That meant he had to remember, in some small way. What else could it be?  
  
What else...the margin for error, and the consequences of falling into this snare twice halted Usagi's celebration. Unable to keep eye contact a moment longer, Usagi stared at the ground as she asked, "Why do you think they brought you here?"  
  
Had she been looking, she would have seen a flash of something veil Mamoru's features. He debated how much to tell her. Because the truth of the matter was, something inside him had put it in his mind that he needed to find Usagi. He had regained consciousness last night to find Usagi sitting on her front stoop, staring at him with big, solemn eyes. When she saw him sit up, she had held out a glass of water in one hand and in the other fist two aspirin, which he took and bolted without a second thought. His head felt like an elephant had done a tap dance on it.  
  
After he had handed back the glass, he had expected her to say something, or at least offer an explanation as to how he got in her front yard. He suspected maybe Motoki was playing some sort of elaborate joke on him, but when Usagi only stared at him in complete silence for a long and very awkward moment, he knew that something else had happened.  
  
Usagi's eyes told him nothing, which worried him the most. Usually Usagi's eyes told the story before any words left her mouth, but last night, they had been clouded and dark. Walled up. Which was his job, not hers.  
  
And just when Mamoru had summoned the courage to ask her about what had happened, Usagi had turned on her heel and disappeared into her house, not once looking back. A part of him seemed to flare with resentment, but not at Usagi, with himself. Mamoru only shook it off and walked down the pathway to the street. He found his car parked a just beyond the wall separating Usagi's house from the sidewalk. Getting behind the wheel, Mamoru lifted a hand to feel at the goose egg on the back of his head and looked up at the lighted window of the second story window in Usagi's house. That was Usagi's room, he didn't know how he knew, but he did. He saw her shadowed figure pause in front of the window before it disappeared as quickly as it had just moments before through her front door and after a few breaths, her light was doused and her room fell into pitch black.  
  
Mamoru stared at the black portal for some odd seconds, seriously considering climbing the tree in the front yard and pulling himself onto the branch stretching out before Usagi's window, knocking until she opened it and demanding to know what happened. Or kiss the life out of her. He didn't know which, and the idea of doing either shook him to his core. Which was never a good thing in Mamoru's estimation, so he turned the keys in his ignition and pulled the car onto the street and turned the nose toward home.  
  
Home, which had become even more lonely and despicable than before. He didn't sleep all night. Every time he had closed his eyes, he saw her face and those blank eyes. She had been sad, lonely, vulnerable and sexy.  
  
That last thought clinched the all-nighter. What was he thinking? Fourteen-year-old girls were not sexy! They shouldn't be.  
  
But Usagi had been, with her sad face, silken hair and robe that had gaped open to reveal the brief, cotton nightie she wore underneath it. She had seemed much older then, staring at him with fathomless blue eyes. It was as if a part of her was saying goodbye. He just didn't get it.  
  
And it wasn't any clearer now, with girl who had haunted his night sitting on the ground before him. She had been crying when he'd come upon her, she was still sniffling as she stared hard at something he could only guess was absolutely fascinating on the ground. Mamoru felt a sense of déjà vu sweep over him and he looked away as shame crept up his neck. He had a sick feeling in his stomach he had put those tears there, which was mighty presumptuous of him to think Usagi thought so much of him to cry over him. Because she didn't. She hated his guts. And he hated hers.  
  
Right?  
  
Shoving his hands in his pockets, Mamoru turned his gaze out onto the lake, ripples glittering as a breeze disturbed the glassy surface. And in answer to her earlier question, he shrugged and said, "I don't know. You, I think."  
  
Usagi looked up sharply and Mamoru turned his eyes back onto hers. His surprise was equal to hers, though he hid it better. He hadn't meant to say that at all, but he'd been compelled to before he even thought about the words.  
  
"Me?" Usagi felt her heart hammer a familiar tattoo in her chest, "Why?"  
  
Mamoru felt something bubble up in him again, and he sensed it would spell disaster for him, so he quickly jumped in before his own tongue worked against him, "I wanted to know what happened yesterday."  
  
"Oh." Usagi looked a little crestfallen, then tilted half a smile at him and asked, "What do you remember?"  
  
"I remember going to Crown, talking to Motoki about something...Don Quixote. He had a big book report due and he didn't get the plot. Have you read that book?"  
  
Usagi blinked, not expecting the question. Then she nodded dumbly and added, "Yeah, I had to read it for school."  
  
"Then you'd agree that the basic premise for the story is pretty easy. But Motoki just didn't get it. Isn't that crazy? But then again, Motoki doesn't get much unless you pretty much spell it out." Mamoru bit off the end, wondering what had gotten into him. He hadn't meant to make small talk; he only wanted to get the facts. Drawing his face into a passive line, Mamoru continued, "Well, anyway, then there was this blinding pain and the next thing I knew I was waking up in your front yard."  
  
Mamoru looked at Usagi expectantly, but she only looked back, then shrugged, "You know about as much as me. I had just come down to see if Luna had come home for the night and found you passed out on my lawn. I thought maybe you had gotten drunk or something."  
  
She was lying, and Mamoru knew it. She wasn't very good at it in the first place, but she wasn't even trying at the moment. He couldn't begin to fathom why, what he'd done to deserve being lied to. But it pissed him off.  
  
"Usa-"but Mamoru was interrupted when Usagi thrust out a closed fist to him and opened, a leather cord and medallion swinging from her fingers, one he recognized right away.  
  
"I found this in the yard after you left," another lie, but Usagi had no intention of telling him he had showed her it when he'd climbed a tree just to talk to her, to see her, to feel her. Boys suck, "I figured it was yours. Here."  
  
Ignoring her sudden hostility and dropped down on one knee next to her, taking the medallion in fingers that shook slightly. He had been afraid he lost it, and to have it back was like a prayer answered. Mamoru looked at Usagi, who had turned her eyes back onto the lake, her mask back on, as if to hide her feelings from him. Mamoru had an idea, a crazy one, but it was worth a try. He needed to know what happened to him yesterday, and how it included Usagi.  
  
"My parents and I were in a car accident when I was about five or six." Mamoru began, seating himself next to her on the grass. He heard her quick intake of breath, but again could not figure what had elicited it and continued, "A bad one. I'm the only one who survived." He paused, waiting for a reaction, but surprisingly, didn't get one. Usagi just stared ahead, as if she didn't see or hear him. But he had a feeling she was only too aware of his presence and went on regardless, "When I woke up in the hospital, I couldn't remember one damn thing. My name, where I lived, who my own parents were, I didn't know any of it. I couldn't remember them to save my life, Usagi. That was the most painful part." Mamoru took in a deep breath and released it just as slowly before he admitted to the next, "Still is, in fact. The police managed to figure out my name, but that was it. That was all I had of my past. And this." Mamoru held the medallion up by its leather cord and with the finger of his other hand sent the round disk spinning and watched it as it twisted and spun, "Damned thing is, I don't even know what it means. I've looked everywhere for what it might stand for, but there is nothing like it anywhere that I can find."  
  
Usagi didn't respond, a consistency Mamoru was becoming tired of quickly. He was about to give up and braced himself to stand and leave when Usagi turned in her seat to face him and put a gentle hand over his, the hand that held the medallion. Looking at him expectantly, seemingly waiting for him to recoil and when he didn't, she rolled his hand over so the medallion lay in his palm and her finger traced over the piece as she began, to his utter amazement, to explain one of the great mysteries of his life, "This is Pegasus, the beast that represents the Holy Order of Elysian, its priest and shrine maidens. The wheat signifies that Elysian is where the dreams of mankind on Earth are reaped and sown and the word." Usagi smiled genuinely for the first time since he'd opened his eyes last night and she'd handed him his walking papers, though it was tainted with heartbreak and sadness, "And the word means, 'Protect,' because Elysian is the protector of the royal family of Earth."  
  
Mamoru was too shocked to speak at first, but finally managed to sputter, "H-how? How did you know that?"  
  
The wistful smile grew as she looked into his eyes boldly, her mask gone and the sadness within them pummeled him with their woe, "Somebody told me."  
  
"Who? How did he know? I have to talk to him." Mamoru's brain ran in dizzying circles as he watched Usagi shake her head.  
  
"He's gone now." She kept her gaze steady on his, "He won't be coming back."  
  
Again, Mamoru got that feeling she was talking circles around him. Mamoru instinctively reached out and wrapped a hand around the nape of her neck, his thumb closing over her cheek as he forced her to look straight at him. Not that he needed to, but the motion gave him a semblance of control, control he so desperately needed right about now, "Usagi, I told you something I have only told one other person, Motoki. You have to understand why I need to know what happened yesterday. I cannot have anymore missing gaps in my life. No matter how miniscule a day may seem to you, it is another lifetime for me. Please, tell me what happened."  
  
"You don't want to know."  
  
"Don't assume to know what I do and do not want to know. I am the only judge of that." Mamoru felt his blood heat and splurge through his veins, and it wasn't just his rising temper that fueled him. His proximity to Usagi, the smell of her hair, the intimacy of their surroundings, the look in her eyes at his touch, suddenly he wanted much more than was publicly decent.  
  
"Maybe I don't want to tell you." Usagi dared him, her own eyes flaring in a temper to match his.  
  
Now this was more familiar ground, claws sharp and teeth bared, the tried- and-true Mamoru and Usagi way, "I don't care what you want. Tell me."  
  
Usagi's anger faded as quickly as it had begun, and she finally broke their eye contact. She was quiet for a long moment before she looked back at him, anguish in her eyes, "You told me you loved me."  
  
That, he hadn't been expecting. He would never – not in a million years – at least never out loud – Mamoru dropped his hold on her and his eyes narrowed, "What?"  
  
"You heard me. First in the Crown, after you attacked poor, poor Motoki. Than you tried again under this very tree, where so many others have professed their love," Usagi threw an arm in reference to the scarred trunk, "But I made you promise not to say it anymore because it scared me. And then you showed up at my window last night, and – and you made me love you back."  
  
Mamoru's heart stopped, "What?"  
  
Usagi snorted and stood, her hands clenched into tight fists as she choked on sobs, "Don't worry, Mamoru. I'm not holding you to anything. You weren't yourself."  
  
That was an understatement, Usagi thought miserably as she swiped at a few stray tears streaking down her face and turned to stomp off. But once again, Mamoru had flashed out a hand, snagged her wrist in the manacle of his fingers and pulled her onto her knees next to him, where he quickly shifted onto his own knees and held her against his body despite her struggles.  
  
"Let me go, Mamoru-baka!" Usagi managed a hushed tone, as to not alarm the people in the park. She would rather not make a spectacle of herself over Chiba Mamoru.  
  
Words spoken in his own voice that Mamoru never remembered speaking echoed through his head as he looked at his hand wrapped around Usagi's wrist, 'If you break this girl's heart, you will regret it. I need not threaten you, for you will truly have made the greatest mistake of your life if you do not scoop up the opportunity I have left at your feet.' And though he certainly didn't remember ever saying those words to himself, he knew that they held an acutely accurate prediction if he did not act, and his gaze lifted back up to hers as he said, and this time he was certain it was him who spoke the words, "Say it again."  
  
"Mamoru-baka." Usagi spat, pulling harder at her wrist in his grip than she remembered doing so yesterday.  
  
Mamoru shook his head, his eyes dark and penetrating, as if he saw straight into her battered and confused heart, "No, tell me that you love me again."  
  
"I don't love you!" Usagi laughed without humor, "I love the man you were yesterday."  
  
"I don't buy it, otherwise you wouldn't be so upset with me now." Mamoru shifted and held both her fighting hands at her sides, the front of their bodies plastered together with the act of self-defense, before he repeated, "Say it again. Tell me you love me."  
  
"Okay, I love you! Now are you happ-"  
  
But Usagi never got the chance as Mamoru's mouth slanted over hers and stole her breath, her fight, and her heart with one, mind-searing kiss. This one had been deeper and far more passionate than the one she had shared with him last night. But then, that one had felt like a lingering goodbye, despite all its sweetness. This kiss, however, brimmed with the promise of things to come. Promises Usagi couldn't bring herself to believe.  
  
Managing to remove herself from his powerful hold, Usagi pulled back out of the kiss and slapped him soundly, the snap ricocheting through the park. Again. Life is just full of surprises these days.  
  
"Why?...Don't..." Usagi struggled to find the words before she finally gave up on thinking before she spoke, "Don't think that just because I love you I'll let you take advantage of it. People don't die from broken hearts and I will get over you with time. I will."  
  
Mamoru released a shuddering breath as he stretched his now aching jaw and looked at Usagi, who was red-faced and breathing heavily. But, Mamoru noted with a smile, still there. She had plenty of opportunity now to escape him, and now she was looking for an excuse to stay.  
  
"I just want you to know before you decide to beat the living daylights out of me, that everything I've ever said, everything I've ever done to you, I didn't mean it. And if I scared you for only one day, believe me, you have scared me far more and for far longer."  
  
Usagi's breath caught, his words so like the ones he had said to her last night that hope was rekindled in heart no matter how hard she tried to squash it down, "I what?"  
  
But Mamoru couldn't speak. With his admission, Usagi had suddenly begun to glow in a warm gold that emanated from the inside out, and her beauty had robbed him his breath. The way her eyes had lit up left Mamoru with no doubt that Usagi truly did love him. And with that, reality gave him a swift kick to the head as Mamoru suddenly realized exactly what it was he was doing. And like with most things involving Usagi, it scared the bejeezus out of him.  
  
"Uh, I need to go."  
  
The light quickly snuffed out, "What?"  
  
Mamoru suddenly found it difficult to look at her, and when he did his eyes zeroed in on the small O of surprise her mouth made at his announcement. That mouth he had just had the guts to kiss. He had kissed her! He had kissed Usagi.  
  
He needed to get out of there, "Yeah, I – uh – I have to go."  
  
Usagi blinked in utter amazement. Was it her, or had he just totally wussed out of proclaiming his feelings for her? Oh, hell no! Over her dead body would she let Chiba Mamoru stomp all over her heart two days in a row!  
  
Usagi was already on her feet and storming her way in the path of Mamoru's retreat as she finished the thought. Her brows were drawn together over her nose and blue eyes raged with fire as she stuck as slim finger under Mamoru's nose, "Oh no you don't buster! You are not going anywhere until this is cleared up. I'm not doing this again."  
  
Mamoru looked down at the furious bundle of blonde pigtails with a closed expression as he pushed past her and out from under the canopy of the tree that had served as their refuge, or love-trap, whatever it was, "You were right Usagi. The man you fell in love with yesterday was not me."  
  
"Bull!" Usagi snatched the crook of his elbow and used his momentum to swing him around and face her again, "And you know it too. Say it."  
  
Mamoru's eyes narrowed as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, fingers grazing against the engravings of the medallion she had translated for him only moments before. His heart began to beat so hard in his chest Mamoru was certain it would explode from its cavity as he lifted his smarting chin and denied her demand, "I have nothing to say."  
  
"You make me spill my guts but don't expect to give me anything in return?" Usagi pulled at a pigtail in her frustration, then pushed him with the other as she continued to rant, "What kind of crap is that?"  
  
"No crap, Usagi. It is just the way it is." Mamoru spoke quietly, his eyes glued to a spot just over her shoulder. But when two soft hands clasped either side of his face in a sure grip, Mamoru couldn't help but look down at her and be buried in the blue depths of her gaze.  
  
"Whoever it was yesterday, he is a part of you. I can see him in your eyes right now, wanting you to accept him. He is the love you have for me, and I want him. I want you, all of you." Usagi's hands moved to aid her in wrapping her arms around his neck, and into the shelter of his chest she found he smelled the same, and felt the same as he had last night, "And I want him now."  
  
Mamoru felt his long dormant heart tear a little and he could only gasp at the ghastly sensation. Placing his chin in the nest of her hair, Mamoru felt his own arms wrap about her waist of their own accord. However, his mind was still his, sorta, and he could bring himself to say what she so desperately wanted him to say. What he himself, had begged of her with equal fervor under the tree mere minutes ago, "I can't."  
  
In the back of his head, something, or someone, gave him a kick in frustration. And externally, something else smacked him upside the head.  
  
Usagi hadn't been expecting the sudden dead weight of the man in her arms and could only yelp her surprise as she was dragged to the ground with him, his body pinning hers to the ground underneath him.  
  
"Mamoru?" Usagi wheezed, his weight making it somewhat difficult to breath, "Mamo-chan, are you okay?"  
  
It was no use, however, Mamoru was down for the count. Sighing heavily, or as heavily as she could, Usagi squirmed from underneath him and felt the back of his head. Another goose egg was forming on the back of his head and rolling to a stop on the ground next to them, was a baseball. Usagi barely had time to realize exactly what it was when a dark-haired young boy wearing a uniform identical to Shingo's came dashing around the corner of the chain-link fence shouting toward the field, "Way to go, Shingo! Woo!"  
  
Usagi looked toward the home plate and watched her brother run into home and into the high-fives of his teammates, her parents in the bleachers cheering enthusiastically. Huh, the little dweeb hit a homer.  
  
The dark-haired boy, meanwhile, snagged up the ball and then looked down at the two teenagers on the ground, his eyes lighting with recognition as he saw Mamoru, "Hey! I don't believe it." He then turned and shouted towards the field again, "Shingo, you hit that guy again!"  
  
Usagi blinked as the coach waved at the boy by her side and shouted, "Ryu, stop messing around! You're up in two batters!"  
  
With a toss of the ball and wink at Usagi, Ryu dashed off toward the dugout, calling toward her brother, "Hey, Shingo! You remember that guy from the arcade yesterday?"  
  
Usagi shook her head, and then gained the sense enough to call after him, "Could somebody call for an ambulance? This guy needs help!"  
  
Seeing one of the adults in attendance nod shortly and flip out their cell phone, Usagi turned her attention back to Mamoru. Giving his chin a few, light slaps, Usagi sighed as she settled herself in for the wait. Great, he had to get knocked unconscious right when she was beginning to wear him down, didn't he?  
  
However, Usagi thought with a suddenly gleeful smile and a twinkle of hope in her eyes, this was the chance she had been asking for all night and day! Now Mamoru would have to turn back into Prince Charming and he'd love her again. Oh joy! This couldn't have worked out more perfectly.  
  
But no, he just went into a coma. Who cares if he had suffered three concussions in a period of two days, this totally didn't fit in with her expectations of the day.  
  
Mamoru lifted one heavy lid; thankful that the room he was in was swathed in the dim light the moon washed into his room. His nose was filled with the smell of medicine and sterilizer and he groaned as he recognized his surroundings immediately. A hospital. Gods, he had hoped to avoid this place for the rest of his life, at least in the patient part of it.  
  
The good news, however, was that he remembered who he was and the past twelve years of his life, which was a vast improvement over the last time he'd woken up in a hospital bed. And to Mamoru's ultimate chagrin, he found himself quite the opposite of alone.  
  
For in a chair pulled up tight against his bed, her head resting next to her hand on the mattress, was a sleeping soundly Usagi. Mamoru swallowed past a dry throat and he managed a trembling, crooked smile. He remembered quite clearly their argument, and he remembered that she loved him.  
  
His heart bloomed with that particular knowledge and Mamoru took the hand resting on the bed in his and let his head fall back on the pillow and began to drowse back to sleep. Not a bottomless, dark sleep like the one he just pulled out of, but one that promised sweet dreams and a well-rested awakening where he was sure he'd find Usagi waiting for him in the morning.  
  
As his eyelids drooped, Mamoru could have sworn that in the soft moonlight, he saw a silver string glow strong and pure from the left side of his chest and stretching between him to where Usagi's own heart lay. The idea did not startle him, or even disconcert him as it may have done just as early as yesterday – well, make that the day before yesterday – and for the first time in all that he could remember, Mamoru felt complete.  
  
Wait until Sancho – ah – Motoki heard about this. He'd probably whack himself upside the head with a broom before he'd believe Mamoru was madly in love with Tsukino Usagi. It was madness, total madness.  
  
Don Quixote would have been proud.  
  
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
All finished! Hope you liked, let me know at:  
  
kamikazebunnyeateryahoo.com  
  
Hasta!  
Cori  
  
Written May 17, 2004


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